


Black and White Mega Men

by DarkGreiga



Series: Megaman ZX: Era of MegaMen [5]
Category: Rockman ZX | Mega Man ZX, Rockman Zero | Mega Man Zero
Genre: F/M, FanFiction.Net
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-01
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 14:43:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 21,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16120646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkGreiga/pseuds/DarkGreiga
Summary: Takes place two years after The Power of LOVE. With Weil gone, everything should go back to normal right? Wrong. Vent, Aile, Ashe and Grey would meet with unexpected enemies as they had the power which was new to them! What would happen next?





	1. The Hunters Are Back!

**Author's Note:**

> Another batch update! The publication date will be changed later to the original posting date in FFN.

It had been two years since the defeat of Weil. The Guardians in Guardian Base were doing their jobs as it was the middle of the day. As for Hunters, there hadn’t been any news about them since they left for their expedition. The Guardian couple, Vent and Aile, came out of the transerver room after they had been patrolling in the city.

“I guess that the city is a peaceful as it usually is, right Aile?” Vent turned to Aile.

“I agree. Without Weil or Omega around, nothing seems to be a threat. Prairie hadn’t even given us any missions involving the Mavericks nowadays.” Aile replied.

“Come on, let’s report to Prairie in the Control Room.” Vent offered a hand as Aile took it and they walked towards the Control Room.

They expected to see Prairie in the usually quiet Control Room, but they were startled by two different familiar faces.

“Hi there you two! You’re still together, right?” Ashe asked cheerfully as Aile smiled.

“Yeah, we still are. How are you two doing?” Aile asked.

“We’re doing great! I finally won a bet from Ashe!” Grey replied with a peace sign before he was elbowed hard by the astute Hunter.

“So anyway, do you guys want to hang out somewhere? I have a lot of stories to tell you!” Ashe turned to the Guardians as they looked at each other before nodding.

“Sure thing, but I hope that they don’t involve you suddenly telling some embarrassing moments!” Vent commented.

“Don’t worry about it! I’m not going to tell anyone about the time you were freaked out and climbed a tree when you saw a cockroach Mechaloid!” Ashe replied as Vent’s jaw dropped while Grey and Aile laughed.

“H-Hey! I wasn’t freaked out, I had allergies!” Vent protested as Aile and Grey stopped laughing.

“Oh, sure you were…” Ashe teased as Vent glared at her angrily. “By the way, you broke the fastest tree climbing record back then!”

“Okay, cut it out Ashe… I don’t want to see my boyfriend being picked on.” Aile held Vent’s arm as he calmed down. “Come on, let’s just go to the cafeteria!”

The silver haired Hunters nodded as they followed Vent and Aile out from the Control Room. As soon as they got out of the Control Room, they saw Prairie came out from Fleuve’s lab. The blonde haired commander turned to them and smiled.

“I see that the Hunters had come back from the expedition. How was the expedition?” Prairie asked with a smile.

“It was a pretty great expedition, although we didn’t find many new things…” Ashe replied before Vent suddenly stepped forward.

“Prairie, the city is fine. We’ve just come back from the city and was about to report to you, until the Hunters showed up in the Control Room instead.” Vent reported as Aile nodded.

“Okay, that’s good to hear. You may take your time and rest for now. I’ll call you through the intercom if anything comes up.” Prairie replied before she walked back towards the Control Room.

The four of them continued walking towards the elevator to go to the cafeteria. They went into the cafeteria, but there weren’t many Guardians around inside although it was lunchtime already. They took a seat on a table not too far from the door. Grey was about to start a conversation, but Ashe grinned slyly and cut him off before he could even say anything.

“So… how’s your relationship now?” Ashe asked with a sly grin.

“W-What’s with the question? I said that you had a lot of stories to tell us!” Vent complained.

“Not if you don’t answer that question!” Ashe replied. “So Vent, have you thought of proposing to Aile yet?” Hearing the silver haired Hunter’s question, the Guardian couple paused for a moment before they blushed furiously.

“N-No… I think it’s still too soon…” Aile replied quietly, still blushing madly.

“Aw, come on! You’re 20 years old now, right?” Ashe asked as Aile slowly nodded. “Then you’re old enough to get married now!” Ashe turned to Vent. “Come on, Vent… I know that you love her too, so why not propose to her?”

Vent curled up his fists before he stood up and slammed the table angrily. “Why do you keep interrupting with other people’s personal lives!? This is our decision to make, so you should just stay out of it!”

“Vent…” Aile looked up at her boyfriend who was glaring at the now freaked out Ashe. “Stop it, Vent! Ashe was just kidding!”

“Uh… yeah…” Ashe replied softly.

“I knew it would go this way…” Grey muttered, luckily wasn’t heard by the other three.

Vent closed his eyes and sighed as he tried to calm himself down. “Sorry… but could you please stay out of this?” Vent opened his eyes back and sat down. He looked at his food in front of him and sighed. “I don’t feel so hungry anymore…”

Aile looked at Vent sadly as he just played with his food instead. When she turned to Ashe, she was looking down sadly. Grey looked at the sad Hunter and sighed before he continued eating.

“It’s pretty rare to see you so down, Ashe. I’ll take it from here then…” Grey finished his food and turned to Vent and Aile.

This time, it was Grey’s turn to tell them the story about the Hunters’ expedition. Neither Vent nor Ashe commented, or even listening so it was just a friendly chat between Aile and Grey before they were suddenly called through the intercom.

“Vent, Aile, Ashe, and Grey, please come to the Control Room.”

“It looks like we’re done in here. Come on you two, cheer up!” Aile said as she held Vent’s hand. Vent turned to her for a moment before he turned away and lowered his head.

The four of them left the cafeteria and headed towards the elevator. They went up to the Control Room and went in to see Prairie. The blonde haired commander noticed them came in and turned around.

“Okay, you’re here. Vent and Aile, I want you two to check the forest area as we’ve got a sign of life coming from there. Ashe and Grey, I want you two to investigate Area L. We got a very strong reading coming from the end of the area.” Prairie explained.

“Wait, Commander! Why are you sending us Hunters to Area L instead of the forest? Vent and Aile are better in battles than us so I think they should go to Area L instead.” Grey commented.

“The forest area or Area A is big and they’re more familiar with it. If I assign you two to the forest instead, I’m afraid that you might get lost.” Prairie replied.

“Okay, we’ll be on our way.” Vent finally spoke up before the four of them went to the transerver room.

Prairie watched them as they left the room. _‘Sis… Giro… please watch over them… I have a bad feeling about this…’_


	2. Secret Lab

Vent and Aile were transported to Area A where they first met Prairie and the Guardians. The forest was as quiet as usual as there weren’t many Mavericks around.

“I think it’s going to take the whole day if there’s only one survivor…” Vent complained.

“Yeah, but we don’t have any other important things to do now. Weil and Omega are gone and the four other Mega Men don’t seem to be turning their backs on us. But I still don’t understand how come their Biometals contain the consciousness of the Chosen Ones.” Aile replied.

“Maybe Albert had modified them before they got the Biometals. By the way, did Prairie mention where the exact position is? I think it’ll save us some time.” Vent asked impatiently.

“No, she didn’t mention anything. Are you planning to somewhere after this?” Aile replied and asked.

“Uh… n-no! Come on, let’s just start looking already!” Vent walked away, but he suddenly tripped over a rock. “Ugh… I don’t remember that there’s a rock over there…”

“Vent, are you okay?” Aile helped him back to his feet before the ground suddenly shook a bit. “W-What was that?” She looked around and saw a set of stairs heading towards the underground beside them. “Vent, I guess we’ve found a hidden stairs thanks to you!”

“Come on, let’s go down there!” Vent said impatiently as he and Aile went down the stairs.

They went to the underground and found themselves inside an old abandoned lab. It was somehow similar to the lab in Area L, but it was underground instead. They walked deeper inside the lab and found an opened medium sized container with a few cables connected to it on top of a computer which was turned on.

“A container? I wonder what was inside…” Vent looked closer at the container, not noticing a capsule beside him.

“Vent, take a look at this!” Vent turned to Aile, who was looking at the computer screen. “I think these are Biometals’ data, but what are they doing here?”

“Could it be that the Biometals were actually created here?” Vent asked.

“It could be, but why the creator of the Biometals left them uncared? If the creator knows the Biometals’ powers, then they should be kept away from suspicious people!” Aile commented as Vent nodded.

They suddenly heard a beeping sound coming from their right. Vent turned to the source of the voice and saw a broken capsule. Vent approached it and rubbed the dust off the glass and saw a blonde haired young woman with a ponytail. She wore a pink collared coat over her pink shirt and skirt.

“Is she… a human?” Vent asked as Aile approached the capsule.

“I think, but I’m not so sure either…” Aile took a glance at the young woman before the capsule suddenly beeped again. “Huh?”

White colored gas suddenly came out and covered the blonde’s whole body. Vent and Aile watched in confusion as the body was fully covered with gas and couldn’t be seen anymore. The capsule beeped one more time before the white gas stopped coming out.

“HIBERNATION PROCESS IS COMPLETED. THE CAPSULE WILL BE OPENED IN A FEW MOMENTS.”

They waited as the capsule opened up and the blonde haired young woman stepped out from the capsule. She looked around the old lab, but she suddenly noticed there were two figures standing in front of her.

“W-Who are you?” the blonde asked. “Are you going after the Biometals?”

“No actually, we were assigned here to find the source of a life sign coming from this area. Anyways, my name is Vent and this is Aile, my girlfriend and partner.” Vent introduced himself and Aile.

“My name is Ciel, and I’m a scientist and the commander of the Guardians.” Ciel replied.

“W-Wait! Are you Prairie’s sister? The first commander of Guardians?” Aile asked with a surprised look on her face as Ciel nodded.

“Yes, but we aren’t blood related sisters. She is a Reploid whom I rescued when I ran away from Neo Arcadia and I decided to take care of her like my own sister.” Ciel explained.

“Neo Arcadia? I think I’ve heard about that. But it had already been destroyed now, right?” Vent asked as Ciel nodded.

“Yes, but luckily we’ve managed to save all of the humans and Reploids before it was destroyed back then.” Ciel turned to where the container was and found that it was empty. “The Biometals! They’re gone!”

“It’s okay, Vent has two of them with him. As for the other four, they were with the other Chosen Ones.” Aile explained as Vent pulled out Model X and Model Z.

“But what about Serpent? He needs to be stopped!” Ciel said with worry.

“We’ve defeated Serpent five years ago. This place is peaceful now that with Serpent and Albert defeated, along with Weil and Omega.” Vent said calmly, but noticed the horrified look on Ciel’s face when he mentioned about Weil. “What is it?”

_‘Dr. Weil and Omega? But how is that possible?’_ Ciel thought before turning to the couple. “Could you take me back to Prairie? I need to know what has happened during my hibernation in the capsule.”

“Okay, but do you know how long have you been sleeping there?” Vent asked.

“I’m not sure, but I believe that I had set the capsule to keep me asleep for a century.” Ciel walked back towards the capsule. “The capsule is broken a bit, so it might be malfunctioning and keeps me asleep maybe for a few more years after or before the time I had set before.”

“I see…” Vent commented before he put his hand on his communicator. “Prairie, we’re done here. Can you transfer us back to the base?”

“Okay, hold on a second.” Prairie replied from the other side.

Vent put his hand back to his side and noticed that Ciel was looking at him.

“Vent, Aile… are you members of the Guardians?” Ciel asked as the two nodded. “Oh, it looks like the Guardians have more members than the before.” Ciel said as she smiled.

A few seconds later, they glowed for a moment and were transported away from the old lab.

Meanwhile in Area L, Ashe and Grey had reached the end of the area. They looked around the room, but no one was there.

“Grey, are you sure that the reading came from this place?” Ashe asked with an annoyed tone.

“I’m sure that it’s coming from this place!” Grey said angrily. A figure behind the shadows suddenly appeared as Grey turned around. “Who’s there?”

Suddenly, a shower of black and gold rocks fell on top of them and followed by six kunai blades. Grey took a glance at the figure before he fainted. The figure chuckled evilly while looking at the Hunters who were buried under the rocks.

“It’s only a matter of time until my powers have fully recovered…”


	3. Reunion

Vent, Aile, and Ciel were transferred back to the transerver room. Ciel looked around the room for a moment before she turned back to the couple.

“This place hasn’t changed much since I left. Is Prairie in the Control Room? We haven’t met each other for a long time.” Ciel commented as Vent and Aile led her to the Control Room.

The two of them stopped in front of the door and turned to Ciel. “You stay here for a moment. We’ll talk to Prairie first so she wouldn’t be surprised to see you again after a long time.” Vent said as Ciel nodded.

The two of them entered the Control Room and let Ciel wait outside the door. Prairie noticed them came in and turned to them.

“Prairie, we’ve found out where that life signature was coming from. It was actually from a secret lab hidden under the forest area.” Aile started.

“I see… who was it that you found?” Prairie asked as Vent rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Well… it’s kinda hard to explain… I still don’t understand the situation until up to now… By the way, you told us that the first commander was missing when she was on a mission to the forest right?” Vent asked Prairie as she nodded. “Do you know which forest was it?”

“I’m not sure, but I know that only one of the research team members came back to the base and he was injured very badly. Why do you ask?” Prairie asked.

“We actually found her inside that hidden lab, where she created the Biometals.” Aile continued.

“I don’t think that’s possible. It has been more than a century since she left the Guardians…” Prairie replied, but suddenly turned to the door as it opened.

“It has been a long time, Prairie. How are you doing?” Ciel asked with a smile.

“S-Sis… is that really you…?” Prairie looked at the long lost commander with teary eyes. “Sis, I miss you so much!” Prairie ran over to Ciel and gave her a big hug.

“It’s nice to see you again too, Prairie…” Ciel said as she returned the hug. “But how long have I been missing?”

“It has been more than two hundred years…” Prairie said as she broke the hug and wiped her tears. “How did you survive for over a century?”

“I found a secret lab after I ran away from Serpent and I had a dream about Zero, X, and the four guardians. They encouraged me to make the Biometals and I had managed to finish them in three years.” Ciel closed her eyes and lowered her head. “But I think that Serpent had taken the Biometals out form the container I used to recharge them and destroyed my hibernation capsule.”

“Don’t worry, Sis… Vent and Aile had defeated Serpent five years ago.” Prairie said as she turned to the couple.

“But that’s not the only thing that I’m worried about.” Ciel continued as the other three looked at her. “The Biometals weren’t fully charged before, so they could lose their consciousness someday although their power remains in the Biometals.”

“So you mean that the Biometals could be classified as ‘dead’ Biometals?” Vent asked as Ciel nodded. “So maybe that’s why the four Mega Men fought each other during that Game of Destiny Albert talked about…”

“Their memories back when they were still Reploids and when they were created were also erased because of that. I’m still not sure about how to recover those memories, but I know that once that Biometal becomes ‘dead’, it cannot be restored back to life.” Ciel continued.

“But if that other four Biometals are actually ‘dead’, why would their Chosen Ones fought in our side back then? Do Biometals affect our personalities and actions?” Aile asked.

“It could be that the souls of the Biometals were actually locked back then. The Biometals’ souls could affect to their Chosen Ones’ personalities and actions, but not entirely. I’ve also locked a special overdrive system into every Biometal and it wasn’t just any ordinary overdrive.” Ciel continued.

“A special overdrive? Sis, is it like those Biometals with attributes?” Prairie asked.

“No, this overdrive is different and could be very dangerous to the Chosen Ones. That is the reason why I had to lock that power, but the lock might be weakened because of the incomplete charge. That overdrive system allows the Chosen One to fully access all of the powers within the Biometal.” Ciel continued. “The powers could drain the Chosen One’s energy and there’s a high chance that the Chosen One loses their memories and there might be a change in personalities according their Biometals.”

“I have the copy of Model X and Model Z while Vent has the original ones, but is it possible for me to activate this special overdrive?” Aile asked.

“No, only the original ones are able to.” Ciel replied and sighed sadly. “I’m sorry, this is all my fault… I should have kept the Biometals in a safer place…”

“It’s okay, Sis… We’ll try and figure out a way to fix this. If you need to do any research about this whole thing, Fleuve’s lab is next to the Control Room. You can stay in my room for the night if you want to.” Prairie said with a smile as Ciel smiled back before she left to the lab. As soon as Ciel left, Muguet came in.

“Commander Prairie, this is terrible!” Muguet said as the three turned to her.

“What’s wrong, Muguet?” Prairie asked with a worried look on her face.

“The Hunters… they were found buried under a pile of rocks in Area L and they were injured pretty badly because of that. The Guardians patrolling that area had just come back with those unconscious Hunters and they were currently being taken care of Rose in the medic wing.” Muguet explained as Prairie lowered her head sadly.

“I understand… You’re dismissed…” Prairie said before Muguet left the Control Room.

“Come on, we have to check on them!” Vent said as Aile nodded before they both ran out of the Control Room.


	4. Going Out

Vent and Aile got out from the Control Room and ran towards the elevator, heading to the medic wing. They entered the medic wing and saw the Hunters lying on the bed, both unconscious. Rose was wrapping bandages around Ashe’s bleeding arm while Muguet was checking on Grey.

“Oh, it’s you two. Their injuries are pretty bad, but I believe that they’re going to be fine.” Muguet said as Vent and Aile approached the fallen Hunters.

“I wonder what kind of attack could cause these kinds of wounds…” Vent commented while looking at Grey.

“W-Weil…” Grey whispered softly. Aile, who was looking at Ashe, turned to him. “He… is still alive…”

“W-What!? But how?” Vent asked as Grey tried sitting up.

“He has… got stronger… than before…” Grey said weakly.

“We were… caught off guard…” Ashe said as Vent and Aile turned to her. “We didn’t… have the chance… to fight back…”

The door slid open and Prairie came into the room. “I’m sorry that I had to put you in this kind of danger… I shouldn’t have sent you to Area L so you wouldn’t be injured so badly.” Prairie suddenly noticed that Vent had his head lowered and was curling up his fists. “Vent, are you okay?”

“I’m sorry everyone… All of you have to be in so much danger because of me.” Vent turned to Prairie. “Prairie, I’m sorry that I disobeyed your order when you told me to rest after I had battled Omega. If I obeyed back then and rested, I could have finished Weil when I got the chance. If Weil was gone, then this whole thing wouldn’t have happened.”

“No Vent, I wasn’t thinking myself when I gave you the missions.” Prairie replied.

“It’s okay, Prairie… You didn’t know that this is going to happen. This is my fault and I’ll be the one to stop him.” Vent replied as Aile walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek.

“Weil is the one who’s going after you, so why is all of this your fault?” Aile asked, but Vent kept silent. “If you are Weil’s target but he attacked Ashe and Grey without a reason, then it is clearly Weil’s fault.”

Vent was still silent for a moment before he let out a small smile. “Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Aile…” Vent walked slowly towards the door and stopped. “I’m going for a walk in the city if you need me.”

“Can I come with you?” Aile asked, but Vent shook his head before he turned to her.

“It’s okay, I just need to be alone for now…” Vent turned back to the door and left the room.

“I think this whole thing about Weil is bothering him, but I’m not sure if I can help him in somehow…” Aile commented, still looking at the door.

“He might need to think about this on his own for now, so let’s not bother him now.” Prairie turned to Aile. “I’ll be heading back to the Control Room for now. Ashe and Grey, you two should rest here for a few days until you’re feeling better.” Grey replied her with a nod, but Ashe had already fallen asleep.

Vent was walking along the streets of Area C as the sunset gave them the orange color. He looked around and saw that the humans and Reploids were walking in the city peacefully although Slither Inc. was gone along with Serpent.

He turned to the side and saw the game arcade where he used to spend the entire day and his whole Energy Crystals to get a stuffed animal for Prairie. He even remembered the part when he and Aile were kicked out of the arcade because it was nighttime and they hadn’t left yet.

He smiled at the memory and continued walking until he stopped in front of a store. It was the jewelry store where he had bought a necklace for Aile’s birthday present. He looked at the window where some jewelry was displayed and saw a plain gold ring. Suddenly, something flashed in his mind.

**_-Flashback-_ **

_“Come on, Vent… I know that you love her too, so why not propose to her?” Ashe, the silver Hunter said._

**_-End of Flashback-_ **

Vent blushed as soon as he remembered what Ashe had said to him. _‘We are old enough to get married, but I don’t feel like I’m ready to propose… We’ve known each other for over fifteen years ever since we were still kids and we’ve known each other’s secrets, but are we ready to get into marriage life?’_

Vent paused for a while and sighed. _‘But I don’t want to regret about my life by not proposing her… What should I do now?’_ Vent looked at the orange sky, which was getting darker.

_‘I can’t turn back from this! Our relationship has come this far, so I think it’s time to take it to the next level!’_ Vent went inside the store with determination and looked around. He saw a ring with a small diamond on it displayed near the counter. He looked at price and checked his wallet.

_‘Now that’s really expensive! But luckily I’ve done enough quests to get this ring!’_ Vent went to the counter to buy the diamond ring. It was wrapped inside a small blue box and Vent pocketed it before he got out of the store.

He saw that the sky was dark already and headed towards a nearby transerver to go back to the base. He was transported back to the base and walked towards Aile’s room. He raised his hand to knock on the door, put he put his hand back to his side.

_‘I’m really nervous… Should I ask for help about this? I’m afraid that I might mess this up…’_ Vent sighed and turned away from the door. _‘I’ll propose tomorrow then… I’m just going to rest for today and calm myself down…’_

Vent slowly made his way towards the elevator, heading to the cafeteria for dinner.


	5. A Misunderstanding

The sun shone brightly through the gap on Vent’s ceiling in his room. The long brown haired Guardian slowly made his way to the bathroom and got ready. Before he was going out of his room, he saw a small blue box beside his bed.

_‘Oh, that’s right… I’m going to try and propose today, but I think I might need some help.’_ Vent walked over to the box and pocketed it.

Vent walked towards the elevator, going up to the Control Room. When he entered the room, he saw that Prairie was typing on her computer along with the three operators. The room which was usually quiet had been filled by the sounds of their typing. The blonde haired commander noticed that the door had slid open and turned away from the computer to find Vent standing by the door.

“Good morning, Vent,” Prairie suddenly noticed the Guardian’s nervous face. “Is something the matter?”

“Prairie, please don’t tell anyone about this…” Vent sighed nervously before he walked slowly towards the commander and whispered something to her ear. Her eyes grew wide for a moment and then she smiled.

“I’m happy for you, Vent… But I’m sorry that I can’t help you with it. I’m busy right now, but I think Sis has some free time right now.” Praire said with a smile.

“It’s okay, but where is she?” Vent asked.

“She might be in Fleuve’s lab right now. She said that she wanted to help him out while learning about the events that had happened when she was missing.” Prairie finally said before she turned back to the computer.

The Guardian left the Control Room and headed towards the lab. When he entered the room, he only saw Ciel sitting near the computer with a glass of coffee in her hand. Ciel turned to him and smiled.

“Good morning, Vent. Are you looking for Fleuve? He said that he was going to the deck for a small break.” Ciel asked.

“No actually, I’m looking for you. I know it’s weird to ask for help from someone I’ve just met, but Prairie is busy right now.” Vent explained.

“It’s okay, what kind of help do you need from me?” Ciel asked with a smile.

Vent took a deep breath before he started his full explanation. Ciel occasionally nodded as Vent was explaining and took a sip of her coffee while listening to the brown haired Guardian. Vent finally finished his explanation as Ciel stood up and smiled.

“I understand your problem. To confess your love to someone you like isn’t easy, and so is proposing. There aren’t any relationships that are perfect and without any arguments. But most of all, marriage life is far more complicated than a normal relationship.” Ciel explained.

“I know… Because of that, I need your opinions about what I’m about to say to Aile!” Vent replied with an annoyed tone. “But I’m not sure if I should ask a person who hadn’t fallen in love before…”

“Vent, I do have fallen in love back then…” Vent looked at Ciel with a surprised look as she blushed. “He was strong and kind,” Ciel suddenly frowned. “But he had sacrificed himself to save this world centuries ago before I had the chance to tell him about my true feelings…”

“Oh, sorry… I shouldn’t have said that…” Vent said, feeling sorry himself.

“It’s okay, but I’ll do things to make him happy and show him that I loved him. Vent, I’ll help you with the proposal!” Ciel said as Vent smiled.

“Thanks Ciel… but how should I repay you?” Vent asked as Ciel shook her head and smiled.

“You don’t have to repay me. I just don’t want anyone to feel bad like me…” Ciel replied.

Meanwhile, Aile had just got out of her room and knocked on Vent’s door. She waited for a reply, but she heard nothing from inside the room. Impatiently, she opened the door and saw that his room was empty. Unlike usual, his bed was still messy and his pajamas were lying on the floor beside his bed.

_‘That’s odd… I wonder where he had gone off to…’_ Aile closed the door back and walked towards the elevator. She walked towards the Control Room to ask Prairie, but suddenly stopped in front of Fleuve’s lab. She could hear Vent’s voice coming from the lab.

“To tell you the truth… I really do love you…”

Aile became curious and peeked inside the lab. She was surprised to see that Vent was there with Ciel, alone. She angrily hit the door switch and the door slid open. Vent and Ciel turned to the door and were surprised to see Aile there.

“Vent! What do you think you’re doing!?” Aile yelled angrily.

“A-Aile! T-This isn’t like what you see! I can explain!” Vent protested, but was terrified as Aile had glared angrily at him.

“Save your breath! I don’t even want to hear it!” Aile walked over to Vent and slapped him hard on the cheek.

“Aile, Vent is telling the truth! He doesn’t love me, he loves you!” Ciel supported, but Aile ignored her and walked towards the door. Vent rubbed his slapped cheek carefully and noticed that Aile had stopped at the door.

Aile turned her head a bit so Vent could see her sad eyes. “I thought that you cared about me… but maybe I was wrong after all…” She wiped the tears which had started falling. “We’re over!” She ran out of the lab while sobbing as Vent stared motionless at the door.

“I’m sorry Vent… This is all my fault…” Ciel apologized, but Vent stayed silent for a moment.

“Ciel… You did what you have to do, and it was the right thing to do. This is my fault for not choosing a safer place to practice my confessions…” Vent sadly left the room while rubbing his red burning cheek, leaving the now confused Ciel.

_‘Those words… Zero, was it you who said them?’_ Ciel thought.

Hours had passed and it was nighttime. Ciel had explained everything that had happened that morning to Prairie, especially the part where Aile broke up with Vent. Prairie walked along the corridors, heading towards Vent’s room.

“Vent, are you okay?” Prairie asked outside the door, but there was no response for a moment.

“The door’s unlocked.” Prairie went into the room and that Vent was packing out his things.

“Vent, where are you going?” Prairie asked softly, but Vent didn’t turn around.

“I’m not needed here anymore,” Prairie was surprised to hear him like that. “Ashe and Grey got hurt because of me and Aile doesn’t love me anymore. It’s better that I’m not even involved in the first place!” Vent got up angrily and picked up his bag. “I’ll quit the Guardians! I’ll just be a regular transporter again!” Vent ran out of the room before Prairie could stop him. Prairie sighed sadly as she looked at the door.

_‘Sis… do you really think that I am a good commander? We’ve just lost a great Guardian member…’_ Prairie thought sadly before she walked out of the empty room and headed towards her room.


	6. Just a Transporter

It was early in the morning, but Aile had got up. She couldn’t sleep the night before so she had bags under her eyes. After she got dressed, she heard a knock on her door.

“Aile, this is Prairie. I have something important to tell you.” Prairie said from outside the door. Aile walked over to the door and opened it.

“What is it, Prairie? Is there another Maverick attack?” Aile asked.

“No, there isn’t. Come with me to the Control Room. I’ll tell you the whole thing there.” Prairie replied before she walked back to the elevator. Aile followed her to the elevator and went to the Control Room.

“Aile, I’ve heard everything that had happened yesterday morning from Sis.” Prairie turned to Aile with a sad look. “Vent really loves you and Sis was just helping him with his confession to you.”

“So what I heard yesterday was him practicing that confession? But what for?” Aile asked.

“I’m sorry, but Vent asked me not to tell anyone about this…” Prairie replied sadly before she sighed. “I saw him last night and he looked really hurt, but I couldn’t do anything to help him.”

“What have I done?” Aile muttered. “I’ll go back to his room and apologize right away!” Aile was going to run out of the Control Room, but Prairie stopped her. She turned and saw that Prairie was still sad. “What is it?”

“Vent has quit the Guardians…” Prairie let go of Aile’s hand as Aile looked at the blonde haired commander with a surprised look. “I’m sorry Aile… I couldn’t stop him… He said that he wanted to go back being a regular transporter, so if you can find him around the city.”

“I… I understand…” Aile slowly nodded. Suddenly the door slid open as Ciel came in.

“Prairie, I have the feeling that Vent might have accessed the special overdrive from Model Z.” Ciel said as both Prairie and Aile turned to her. “Yesterday I thought that I might have heard Zero’s voice combined with Vent’s as he said that the whole thing wasn’t my fault.”

“Sis, are you really sure about it?” Prairie asked in disbelief as Ciel nodded.

“Yes, I’m sure of it. But I think he hadn’t gained the full access yet, so I think he would be okay for now although he might need to be checked to be sure.” Ciel replied.

“Okay, I’ll try and find him. If I hadn’t broken up with him, he might still be here.” Aile said before she went out of the room.

“Prairie, had Vent been in a dangerous battle that made him draw out a lot of power from the Biometals?” Ciel asked with worry.

“I think it was that time when he fought Omega for the second time in Area N. His energy reading was really strong, stronger than Omega and he managed to defeat him in that state.” Prairie answered.

“He could have accessed some of the power back then by accident…” Ciel stated. “Prairie, I’ll try to find out a way so the special overdrive wouldn’t be too risky for Vent and the other Chosen Ones to use.” Prairie nodded as Ciel left and headed back to the lab.

Meanwhile, Aile was walking on the streets of Area C. She looked around, but she didn’t see Vent around. When she looked to the side, she saw the old Giro Express building where she and Vent had worked before they joined the Guardians. She looked closely at Giro’s old desk and saw Vent sitting there while taking some records on the goods. She hurriedly ran over to the building and to Vent.

“Vent!” Vent looked up and saw the running Guardian. “Vent… I’m really sorry for yesterday… I should have listened to you first before I broke up with you…”

“Who are you?” Vent asked coldly as Aile looked at him with a surprised look.

“V-Vent, what are you talking about?” Aile asked nervously. “I’m Aile and I’m your girlfriend!”

“I haven’t heard the name Aile in my life and I don’t have a girlfriend. I’m always alone in my life and no one needs me.” Vent replied.

“No, Vent! The Guardians need you! Grey… and even Ashe need you!” Aile ducked to his eye level. “I need you, in my life…” Vent was silent, but his emotionless face still stayed the same. “Please Vent… remember the Guardians… remember Giro who had sacrificed himself to save us…”

“Don’t bother me, I’m busy.” Vent responded coldly before he got up. Aile quickly grabbed his shoulders and prevented him from walking away.

“Vent, I’ll do anything to help you! I’ll do anything to get you back! I don’t want to lose any other people that I love… I’ve lost my mom… I’ve lost Giro… but I don’t want to lose you…” Aile suddenly pulled Vent into a hug, but he didn’t hug her back.

“Aile, can you hear me?” Prairie said from Aile’s communicator.

“Yes, is something the matter?” Aile broke the hug and reached her hand to her communicator.

“I’ve got the report from Muguet that your Hunter friends had fully recovered thanks to the old medicine Rose gave them. I have also detected a Maverick base hidden near an undersea volcano. I’ll transfer you back to the base for the further information.” Prairie explained before she cut the connection.

Aile put her hand back to her side and sighed sadly. She turned to Vent, who was staring at her blankly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked straight at his eyes.

“I have to go now, Vent… I just want you to know that I’ll always love you even if you can’t remember who I really am.” Aile closed her eyes and kissed him on the lips, thinking that it might be the last kiss they would share together.

Aile broke the kiss and were transported away seconds later. Vent stared blankly at the place Aile used to be before she was transported away and whispered her name.

“Aile…”


	7. Enemies or Allies?

Aile was transported back to the Guardian Base and slowly made her way to the Control Room. She went into the room and saw the fully recovered Ashe and Grey, along with Prairie.

“Aile, how’s Vent?” Prairie asked with a worried look on her face as Aile sighed sadly. “It’s okay, I understand. You don’t have to tell us if you don’t feel like it.”

“Thanks Prairie… Anyways, where is the exact location of the base?” Aile asked, still looking sad.

“I’ve detected that it was really close to Albert’s old hideout. I’m not sure if Albert is actually related to that Maverick base, but it needs to be destroyed. The Mavericks from that base are actually emitting different energy readings from the normal type Mavericks.” Prairie explained.

“So you’re saying that these aren’t like any other Mavericks?” Ashe asked as Prairie nodded.

“This place could be dangerous if you let your guard down, so please be careful you three!” Prairie said as the three of them left the room.

The three of them were transported in front of a damp cave. They pulled out their Biometals and transformed before they all went inside the cave. They explored the cave deeper, but there weren’t any signs of Mavericks anywhere in the cave.

“I have the feeling that there could be a trap here…” Grey commented as he and Aile suddenly turned to Ashe.

“What? Do you expect a top class Hunter to fall into a trap?” Ashe asked with an annoyed tone.

“You fell into more than a trap during that last trip, what can you say now?” Grey smiled slyly. He folded his hands and leaned against the cave wall, but suddenly they heard a clicking sound. He suddenly stood back and looked around.

“INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!” the alarm rang.

“Nice going, Grey!” Ashe complained as Grey glared at her.

“This is no time for arguing you two!” Aile said sternly, “We have to fight to defend ourselves!”

An army of Galleon Hunters suddenly came out from deep inside the cave. Aile pulled out her ZX buster as Ashe and Grey pointed their Homing Shot guns at them. The Galleons exploded on after another, but more of them came from inside the cave.

Grey stepped forward and shot out a few half charged shots at the Galleons which was about to shoot them, destroying them to pieces. Two more Galleons suddenly came from behind and one of them shot Grey on the chest, knocking him back a bit.

_‘Their attack power is stronger than normal Galleons’!’_ Grey thought as more of the Galleon Hunters popped out of the cave. _‘Is there another way to beat them at once?’_

“Rising Fang!” a sonic boom came from behind and slashed most of the Galleons out of the way. The three turned and saw Vent in his ZX form. “Next time, don’t start the party without me!” Vent commented as he chuckled.

“Vent! You came!” Aile ran over to him and hugged him. “But how did you find us?”

“Do you remember about the thief tracker we invented before?” Vent asked, “I used the Biometal signal to track you down with the device, but it only works on real Biometals so…” Vent uneasily pointed at Ashe, “I used your Model A to track you guys down…”

“Cool!” Grey commented, “Come on, the cave is still deeper inside!”

Vent nodded as the four of them now went inside the cave. The deeper they were inside the cave, the more the road went down. The walls and ceiling were damp and it was getting darker inside. They stayed close with Vent on the lead and Grey on the back of the line, until the road got a bit brighter.

“Hey, it’s getting brighter here. Have we reached the exit yet?” Ashe asked.

“Probably, just keep moving.” Vent replied shortly.

They kept on walking and reached the end of the long cave. They were in a room full of operating machines with some Mechaloids coming out of them.

“This isn’t just any ordinary Maverick base! It’s actually a hidden factory of Mechaloids!” Ashe looked around and saw a Hop Cannon without its springs.

“I never knew that there’s a hidden factory where the Mechaloids are created underground, but who would do this kind of operation and what for? Serpent and Albert are both gone!” Vent stopped as he remembered something. “Weil…”

The whole base suddenly shook violently as the machines stopped operating. Aile looked up and saw a crack on the ceiling. It was getting wider as dust fell on top of them. The crack formed a hole and something fell from the ceiling.

“Look out! Something big is going to fall on us!” Grey warned as the four of them ran aside before they could be crushed by the falling object.

The dust cleared up and they saw two giant Mechaloids. One was an eagle like Mechaloid with purple armor and white wings, while the other one was a magenta colored dragon Mechaloid with three horns on his head and purple wings.

“Orehawk! Diadrake! What are they doing here and why are they bigger than the ones we’ve met before?” Vent asked. Soon after, two figures hopped down through hole and faced the giant Mechaloids.

One of them had a skull shaped helmet, purple armor, and a green cape along with a blue bladed scythe in his hand. The other one had white and blue armor along with a staff.

“Prometheus? Pandora?” Ashe and Grey asked in disbelief as they had seen their old enemies, but the Reploid siblings ignored them.

“We’re not done with you yet!” Prometheus said before he dashed forward and swung his scythe hard at Diadrake, cutting it in half. Pandora pointed her staff upwards and created a giant bottle made of ice on top of Orehawk. She swung her staff downwards as the bottle fell on top of it and crushed it.

Prometheus and Pandora turned around to face the four Chosen Ones. “What do we have here? It’s just like the old times, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about? We’re not here to fight you!” Ashe protested as Prometheus and Pandora fell to their knees. “H-Hey, are you okay?”

“You’re still showing your sympathy towards your enemies… How pathetic…” Prometheus commented, “Do you think that so weak that we wouldn’t survive like you four?”

“The Model W fragments had kept us alive even after the countdown Albert had put in us had reached zero…” Pandora added.

“But you’re badly injured right now, so let us take you back to the Guardian Base.” Vent offered.

“You think that we needed the help from you, huh? Ugh…” Prometheus held out a hand over his chest. “Fine… do whatever you want with us…”

Aile nodded and reached her communicator. “Prairie, transfer us back. We have found some injured here.”

“Okay, hold on.” Prairie replied from the other side.

The six of them glowed for a moment before they were transferred back to the Guardian Base.


	8. The Real Feelings

The six of them were transferred back to the transerver room in the Guardian Base. Vent had Prometheus on his back while Aile had Pandora. They headed towards the medic wing where Muguet and Rose were waiting for them. They put Prometheus and Pandora on the beds there.

“Judging from the wounds you two have, you might have to have a lot of rest. While you two rest here, I’ll make the medicine. Rose, could you get their wounds bandaged first?” Muguet asked.

“Yes, I’ll get on it.” Rose nodded and took out some bandages from the medicine box in the corner of the room.

“Vent…” Prometheus whispered, “If you’re going after Weil, don’t hope for it… Let us finish him…”

“You’re going after Weil too? What for?” Vent asked.

“It’s none… of your business…” Prometheus replied weakly.

“As for the four of you, could you leave the room please? They need to rest for now.” Muguet said as the four of them left.

“Come on, we have to report to Prairie.” Vent said as he walked towards the elevator with others behind him. _‘So Prometheus and Pandora are going after Weil too…’_ he thought as the four of them went up to the Control Room.

The four of them entered the Control Room and were greeted by Prairie. She was also surprised to see Vent back. “V-Vent? Did you decide to return here?”

“Yes, I’m going back to be a Guardian again.” Vent replied, “Sorry about my behavior last night…”

“It’s okay…” Prairie turned to the others, “Who did you find in that base?”

“They were actually Prometheus and Pandora. Prometheus mentioned that he was going after Weil too…” Aile answered, “Have you found out anything new about Weil?”

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t got anything else. For the time being, I think you should rest up for the day. I’ll call you if anything happens.” Prairie replied as the four Chosen Ones nodded. They all left the room in silence before Grey decided to speak up.

“Come on, let’s have lunch at the cafeteria!” Grey suggested as Aile and Ashe nodded and followed him. Vent grabbed Aile’s hand as she stopped walking and turned to him.

“What is it, Vent?” Aile asked.

“Will you come to the deck with me? I have something really important to tell you.” Vent replied nervously.

“Okay, but take it too long. I didn’t eat breakfast this morning, so I’m hungry right now.” Aile turned to Ashe and Grey, “You two can go ahead, we’ll catch up with you later!”

Vent held her hand and they walked towards the elevator. They arrived on the deck which was empty as Thon, the big Guardian member, was going out to the city. Vent turned away from Aile and gulped.

_‘Here goes nothing!’_ Vent turned back to Aile with his eyes closed. “First of all, I want to say that I’m sorry about yesterday. Maybe I should practice on my own so you wouldn’t be hurt thinking that I might be cheating on you.”

“No Vent, I’m the one that’s supposed to be sorry. I should have listened to you first before I accused that you were cheating on me.” Aile replied as Vent took a deep breath. “Is something wrong? Why are you looking so nervous?”

Vent shook his head and took another deep breath. “No, I’m fine…” Vent looked around the deck, “Ashe and Grey aren’t watching, are they?”

Aile sighed seeing his reaction. “No Vent, they’re in the cafeteria right now. Is the conversation that private?”

Vent nodded nervously. “You know that I’ve been practicing with Ciel, but I’m not using the lines she suggested. I’m using the lines I’ve formed on my own and they come from deep inside my heart.”

“What are you talking about?” Aile asked impatiently.

“I’ve actually fallen in love with you for a long time, but it took me more than three years to confess my love to you. I was going to confess when we were together on the deck before, but something was holding me back. I just don’t want to lose you as a friend, that’s why…” Vent replied with a sad look.

“Vent… I didn’t know that you were hiding your feelings for that long…” Aile paused for a moment and smiled nervously. “But to be honest, I’m sort of the same…”

“O-Oh… it’s okay…” Vent took out a small blue box from his pocket. “Aile, I’ve also thought that you’re special and I’ll do anything to save you. I don’t want to see you get hurt or even suffer the same fate as our mothers and Boss…”

Aile blushed after hearing Vent’s words and she felt that her heart started beating at a faster rate. Vent got down to one knee and opened up the box, showing Aile the diamond ring. Aile gasped and looked at the diamond ring, and then back to Vent who was actually looking at the ground nervously.

“Aile… will you marry me?” Vent asked nervously, hoping for a good answer. Aile paused as she was looking for the right words to say, but then she smiled.

“V-Vent… I… I didn’t expect that our friendship back then could lead us to a relationship, but I actually expected our relationship to come this far…” Vent looked up and saw that Aile was smiling sweetly. “Vent, I will marry you!”

“Y-You will?” Vent asked again as Aile jumped to hug him and pulled him into a deep long kiss. Vent broke the kiss and smiled. “I’ll take that as a yes then…”

“Vent, should we go to the cafeteria now? I can’t wait to tell Ashe and Grey about our incoming marriage! By the way, when should the wedding ceremony be?” Aile asked, still had her arms wrapped around Vent’s neck.

“How about two weeks from now on? We have some enemies to be taken care of too, you know…” Vent teased, “Come on, I bet that you’re getting hungrier by now!”

Aile let go of his neck as both of them headed towards the cafeteria, hand in hand.


	9. The Secret

It was morning already and Aile had woken up earlier than Vent, just like usual. She had got dressed before she got out of her room and knocked on Vent’s room. The door opened to reveal Vent fully dressed and ready.

“Morning Vent! Should we head to the Control Room to tell Prairie about the great news now?” Aile asked cheerfully.

“Sure, and hopefully she’s there unlike yesterday…” Vent commented as Aile held to his arm.

They went to the Control Room and expected to see Prairie and the operators, but they found her and the Hunters along with Muguet. Prairie turned to the five with a worried look.

“Everyone… Prometheus and Pandora are missing from the medic wing this morning…” Prairie said.

“But they haven’t fully recovered yet, have they?” Vent turned to Muguet as she shook her head.

“No, their wounds are pretty bad and they might need some more time to rest before they could go back and fight.” Muguet explained as Vent turned back to Prairie.

“Prairie, those two must be looking for Weil! Have you found him yet?” Vent asked as Prairie turned back to her computer.

“I’m not really sure… I’ve detected a similar reading in the same place the day after the Hunters came back from Area L, but the reading was gone later that day and couldn’t be detected anywhere else.” Prairie explained while typing something on the computer.

“I think that Dr. Weil has regained some more of his powers…” the gang turned to the door to see Ciel there. “I have the feeling that his powers might have come back, but I don’t have any solution to prevent that from happening.”

“Whatever he’s up to, it can’t be good…” Grey commented, “Come on guys, let’s check it out if Weil is really there or not!” The four Chosen Ones left the room, leaving only Muguet, Prairie, and Ciel in the Control Room.

“Commander Prairie, I’ll be going back to the medic wing for now…” Muguet said before she left the room.

“Prairie, I think I have to go with the Chosen Ones. If Dr. Weil has regained his old powers then they won’t stand a chance against him!” Ciel suggested.

“But Sis… that’s too dangerous!” Prairie protested, “I don’t want to lose you again, Sis!”

“I’m sorry Prairie, but I’m the only one who can do this. Our second choice might be the Vent or the other four Mega Men, but I don’t them to risk their lives…” Ciel closed her eyes and put her hands over her chest.

“But Sis!” Prairie protested again, but was cut off by Ciel.

“I had dream last night about Zero… He told me that Albert had modified my DNA back when I was still hibernating and made me the ‘seal’ for Model W’s real soul, Dr. Weil’s soul.” Ciel explained as Prairie’s eyes grew wide and she got up from her seat.

“Sis… you can’t… I don’t want to… First was Zero, and now you too? Please Sis… there has to be another way!” Prairie’s eyes were teary and Ciel hugged her.

“I’m sorry, but this is the only way I can do… But you still have the Guardians and the Chosen Ones with you. You have become a better commander than I do because the Guardian still exists!” Ciel encouraged.

“Thanks, Sis… I understand…” Prairie smiled sadly and wiped her tears. “But about that special overdrive system, I think I have a few more questions. I’ll tell the others if this is really important.”

“What is that you wanted to know about?” Ciel asked.

“You aren’t the one who created Model A, but can Ashe use the special overdrive?” Prairie asked.

“No, she can’t. I’ve seen the data about Model A and I don’t think the special overdrive is possible for Ashe. I’ve also found out that Aile can also use the special overdrive like Vent although she only had the copy of the Biometals, but she might only have half the power.” Ciel explained.

“I see… She might have drawn out the power when she fought Dr. Weil for the first time.” Prairie said as Ciel nodded.

“Prairie, I’m going to Area L now.” Ciel turned away and looked at the door, “Please take care of the Guardians for me, Commander Prairie!” Ciel left the room as Prairie was still frozen in her place. She closed her eyes and tried holding back the tears.

_‘Sis… after all those centuries, I thought that I would never see you again… But now we have met each other again for the last time…’_ Prairie opened back her eyes and looked at the door for a moment before she sat back on her chair.

_‘Ashe had also told me that Vent had proposed to Aile yesterday… Vent… I know that you’re still upset about Dr. Weil, but please don’t get yourself killed! Aile needs you by her side…’_

**_-Flashback-_ **

_“Morning…” Aile greeted tiredly as she entered the Control Room._

_“Good morning, Aile!” Prairie turned to the brown haired Guardian, “What’s wrong?”_

_“I don’t know… Last night you told me that Vent’s coming back today, right?” Aile asked as Prairie nodded._

_“Yes, it has been three years since you two were separated. Aren’t you excited to see him again?” Prairie looked at the brown haired Guardian, who was blushing now._

_“W-What? I-It’s not like that, Prairie! We’re just friends, that’s all!” Aile protested._

_“Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell him if you really do like him…” Prairie responded._

_“Okay, so you know that I like him… Sometimes I get the feeling that I needed him more than just a friend…” Aile replied and sighed._

_“You two have been friends for a long time, so I think it’s possible that you feel that way…” Prairie commented with a smile before she turned back to the computer. She suddenly heard the door opening moments later._

_“Vent? Is that you?” Aile’s voice could be heard._

_“A-Aile? You look… different…”_

**_-End of Flashback-_ **


	10. Endless Battle

Vent, Aile, Ashe, and Grey were transported to the end of Area L, inside an empty room. No one was seen there and the room was really quiet.

“Guys, I’ve got a strong reading in this room!” Grey stated. The four of them suddenly heard an evil laugh.

“I know that voice! That’s Weil’s voice!” Vent looked around the room to find Weil, but none of the four noticed that there were six kunai blades on top of them. The kunai blades were brought down to them, but they suddenly noticed the incoming blades and jumped out of the way.

“It looks like you’ve got better than the last time, Chosen Ones!” Weil commented as he teleported into the room with bigger armor.

“You… How come you’re still alive?” Vent asked angrily.

“I have a mechanical body, so I can’t age and my wounds heal up faster!” Weil laughed evilly as Vent growled angrily.

“Everyone, get ready to fight!” Vent said as the three of them nodded.

“ROCK ON!” the four of the yelled in unison as they all transformed.

Grey aimed a Homing shot on Weil’s chest, but the shot bounced off his armor. Grey growled angrily as Aile followed him with a charged shot, but it also bounced off him. Vent dashed quickly and slammed his charged saber at Weil, but it didn’t even scratch the armor. Ashe fired a charged laser at Weil’s head, but the shot bounced off him and hit a wall behind the four Chosen Ones instead.

“Our attacks are useless against him! What kind of armor is that anyway?” Ashe asked as Weil laughed evilly.

“Most of my powers have been recovered and I’ve got my old armor back when I fused with Ragnarok! Once my powers are fully recovered, none of you can even stop me!” Weil let out another evil laugh before he summoned an array of blue balls.

The four of them jumped out of the way as the blue balls came down to them. Aile turned around and saw another set of blue balls behind them, but they were still airborne and couldn’t dodge out of the way in time.

The four Chosen Ones took the hit hard on their backs and were knocked back to the ground. Vent was the first one to get up and charged at Weil. He did an uppercut from below Weil to his face, but Weil had stopped the saber with his bare hands.

“W-What?” Vent looked at Weil in disbelief as the mad scientist grabbed his saber tighter and threw him against the wall behind him.

“Vent!” Aile saw that Vent had fallen from the wall and struggling to get up. “You’ll pay for that!”

Aile aimed her ZX buster at his head and body, but her shots were useless against him. Weil summoned a set of black rocks followed by a set of black and gold rocks on top of them. Aile had managed to dodge most of the rocks, but Ashe and Grey were having a hard time dodging them.

Vent was back to his feet and saw that more rocks are still coming at his friends. He pulled out his ZX buster and aimed upwards at the rocks.

_‘Let’s try this ‘special overdrive’ now!’_ Vent charged his buster as his armor glowed. “Overdrive…”

“STOP IT!”

Vent’s armor stopped glowing as his buster stopped charging. He lowered his buster and saw the blonde scientist came into the room. “C-Ciel?”

“Everyone… please stop it…” Ciel begged.

“Dr. Ciel! B-But how is that possible?” Weil looked at Ciel in disbelief.

“I was hibernating inside a capsule in a lab, Master Albert’s old lab. He was the one who created Model W and sealed your powers when you fused with Ragnarok inside those Biometals.” Ciel explained.

“So my feelings aren’t wrong… Zero had told you from inside your dream, hadn’t he?” Weil asked angrily.

“He had told me everything I needed to know… He had told me about Albert’s grand plan with your powers, which can change the world to the better or worse. He had also told me about your seal…” Ciel continued calmly and had her eyes closed.

“S-Seal? What do you mean?” Aile asked, but suddenly Ciel’s body started glowing. “Ciel, what’s happening?”

“I’ll take it from here. You can rest up after the tough battle I had been into with Weil. I’ll sacrifice my own life just like what Zero did back then in order to gain peace once again…” Ciel’s body floated in front of Weil, who was looking at her with a horrified look.

“N-No… you didn’t!” Ciel raised her hands until they were at the same level with her shoulder as Weil’s body started glowing. “ARGH!!!”

The four Chosen Ones watched as Ciel’s body and Weil’s body shone brightly and they were both fully consumed by the light. Their bodies suddenly shrunk and formed two small balls of light. The whole room shook violently soon after as the balls of light moved closer to each other slowly.

The balls of light came in contact with each other and they fused to create a bigger ball of light. The whole room shook even harder as rocks started falling and covered most of the floor. The big ball of light suddenly shook before it slowly changed shape into a flat rectangle plate.

The whole room’s shaking slowly died down as the floating plate slowly stopped glowing. The four Chosen Ones saw that the plate looked like it was made from glass and it had a picture of Ciel with her eyes closed and her hands on her chest.

_“Everyone… take care!”_ Ciel’s voice echoed inside the Chosen Ones’ minds.

“Ciel… was made the sacrifice by Albert…” Grey commented, his eyes still glued to the floating plate.

“But I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it…” Vent turned to the other three Chosen Ones, “Come on, let’s head back to the base and report to Prairie!”

The three nodded as Vent contacted Prairie told transfer them back. A few seconds later, they were transported back to the transerver room in the Guardian Base.


	11. The Biometals’ Secret

The four Chosen Ones went to the Control Room and reported to Prairie about what happened there, and also what happened with Ciel. They expected the blonde haired commander to be sad about Ciel’s sacrifice, but she was calmer than they thought she would.

“But Prairie… isn’t she your sister who had been missing for over a century?” Aile asked.

“Yes, she is… But she had told me everything beforehand. She knew how I would react if I just know that from your report…” Prairie closed her eyes and smiled sadly, “She wanted to help Zero back when he was still alive, but she didn’t have any powers to assist him in battles.”

_“Yes, it was true…”_ Model Z floated out from Vent’s pocket.

_“Ciel’s sacrifice had somehow made us gain our memories back when we were still living Reploids.”_ Model X floated out from Vent’s pocket.

“Wow…” Grey commented, “But is there anything else that you remember other than your Reploid lives?”

_“We don’t only remember about our past lives, but there are also things we know by becoming Cyber Elf data before our consciousness were transferred into Biometals.”_ Model Z added.

_“Serpent’s mind was actually controlled the whole time by Weil inside that Model W, but it was impossible for him to go back to normal because his mind had become one with Weil’s.”_ Model X stated.

“S-So did you mean that Serpent wasn’t himself at all when Aile and I fought him?” Vent asked.

_“Yes, it was actually Weil. The same goes for Albert. Vent, Aile, Ashe, and Grey, you all have been fighting against Weil indirectly.”_ Model X answered.

_“Ciel’s sacrifice had also allowed us to access some hidden data we obtained when we fought the Biometal Pseudoroids. Do you want us to reveal the data? It might contain some unexpected truth.”_ Model Z asked as Vent turned to Prairie and the others.

“We don’t have much information behind Weil and the remaining Chosen Ones, but we are in need on that information.” Prairie said.

“I’m still wondering about Albert’s real plan with Ciel and Weil along with the way how Ciel survived inside that capsule which it was broken.” Aile added.

_“I’ll try to search about them in the database. Hold on a second.”_ Model X said as the room became silent for a moment. _“It looks like the possessed Serpent was the one who destroyed the capsule in the first place so the hibernation timer was reset, but it was Albert who fixed the capsule’s timer.”_

“Do you find anything about Albert’s grand plan?” Grey asked curiously.

_“I’m sorry, but some of the data is corrupt. Model Z, did you find anything else?”_ Model X replied as Grey sighed in disappointment.

_“I’ve only found out that it was true what Ciel said about the four remaining Chosen Ones. Their consciousness was sealed by Albert and the Chosen Ones had the ability to control the Biometals completely and draw out more power from the Biometals.”_ Model Z explained.

_“There’s actually a chance that the other Biometals might have their seals weakened before and had got stronger now. I can’t access the data from the four other Biometals and the data from before was actually obtained from Model A’s copy ability.”_ Model X added.

_“So my copied DNAs had their data copied too?”_ Model A floated out from Ashe’s pocket as Ashe and Grey stared at him. _“W-What are you two looking at?”_

“Hey Grey, do you think that Model A could have some hidden data that couldn’t be copied by Model X and Model Z?” Ashe asked with sly grin.

“Beats me. Should we ask Fleuve to do some operation?” Grey responded as Model A turned back and forth between the two silver haired Hunters.

_“H-Hey! I’m not hiding anything!”_ Model A relied as Ashe laughed.

“Don’t worry Model A, I’m just kidding!” Ashe said before she turned back to the others.

_“I have the feeling that the Biometals might have been modified that had made it easier to use the special overdrive and prevented them from going against the rules in that Game of Destiny.”_ Model X started.

_“Yes, I still don’t know why the Chosen Ones didn’t transform back when I froze the Biometals. They also stayed transformed after they lost their battles against Ashe and Grey.”_ Model Z added.

“I think that Albert might have something to do with Weil.” Everyone in the room turned to Vent. “If he made Ciel the sacrifice to be the seal, then he must have known that the Model Ws he created would bring Weil back to life.”

“I believe what Vent had said was right.” Prairie supported, “Albert wouldn’t let Sis survive by fixing her capsule if he didn’t know that Weil was going to be revived through the Model Ws he created.”

“I knew it that Albert was hiding something behind our backs!” Ashe commented angrily, “He lost to us purposely in order to bring Weil back to life!” Ashe paused for a moment as she noticed something. “But why would he do so anyway? I don’t get it…”

Vent sighed and looked at the confused Hunter. “I thought that you might figure something out for us… You two were the ones who fought Albert before, right?” Suddenly Prairie’s computer beeped and she turned to her computer.

“Everyone, this is bad news!” the four Chosen Ones turned to Prairie, “I’ve detected some strong energy readings heading towards Area L, where Dr. Weil is being sealed.”

“Do you know who they are?” Aile asked.

“I’m afraid not… But I detected some Biometal signals coming from them. There are four Biometals detected!” Prairie replied.

“I have the feeling that things might repeat themselves all over again…” Ashe commented as Grey nodded.

“Okay, we’ll all go there!” Vent exclaimed with determination on his eyes.

“Alright… please be careful and if you feel that you’re not going win, just retreat rather than risking yourselves…” Prairie finally said before the four Chosen Ones left the room.


	12. The Black Mega Men

The four Chosen Ones were transported back to the end of Area L. They were in the same big room where they encountered Weil for the second time. The rocks from the earthquake were still covering most of the floor and the plate was still floating in the center of the room.

“It looks like we beat them here!” Ashe commented.

“Yeah, but I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen here soon…” Grey replied as he looked around. He stopped at the entrance as he saw a Galleon Hunter there. “We’ve got some company!”

“ROCK ON!” the four Chosen Ones transformed as more of the Galleon Hunters came into the room.

Vent pulled out his ZX saber and he was the first one to charge at the Galleons. Aile shot the Galleons from distance with her ZX buster as Grey and Ashe was aiming the Galleons with their Homing Shot guns and normal guns.

Grey suddenly stopped shooting and lowered his dual guns. _‘Let’s clean things up fast!’_ Grey put his guns to his sides and let out rapid fire shots. “GIGA CRUSH!!!”

The Giga Crush eliminated most of the incoming Galleons, but more of them were still coming in. Vent moved his saber to his right hand as he pulled out his buster with his left hand. He started shooting at the enemies which were coming from his left as he slashed the enemies on his front and his right with the saber.

Meanwhile, Aile and Ashe were surrounded by the Galleons. Ashe quickly charged her laser gun and pointed it at her right side while she aimed her Homing Shot gun at her left side, getting as many targets as possible. Aile kept on shooting at a faster rate at the incoming enemies as she and Ashe were trying to free themselves.

The four had managed to defeat more than a hundred of Galleons, but they were still coming at them. Their number had slowly been decreasing and the room was almost empty again. The Chosen Ones were worn out, but there were still some more enemies in the room.

Vent dashed quickly and slashed the remaining four Galleons. The room was once again empty, but now it had some remains from the exploded Galleons. They transformed back and were panting heavily after the long lasting battle, but none of them took any hits.

“They might… have set a trap… by attacking us with those Galleons…” Vent stated.

“Probably… they were trying… to exhaust all of us first…” Aile added and suddenly turned around when she heard some footsteps.

“It looks like the Chosen Ones are pathetically on their knees…” a person stepped in. He had light green hair and earrings along with a sleeveless green jacket and a sword in hand.

“Aeolus! But what are you doing here?” Grey asked with a tensed look on his face.

“Hmph… I thought that you kids are smarter than this…” another person stepped in and it was a woman. She had orange and brown dual toned spiky hair along with an orange colored sleeveless jacket similar to Aeolus’ and a pair of boxing glove like gauntlets.

Two more stepped inside the room and stood behind the woman. One was a teenager with blue hair and wore a blue hoodie over a blue colored sleeveless jacket. The other one was a man with a red long scarf over his mouth and a purple sleeveless jacket.

“Atlas, Thetis, and Siarnaq too? But what are you all doing in here?” Ashe asked as she saw the three people who were with Aeolus.

“Isn’t it obvious? The Game of Destiny isn’t over yet because Albert has been taken down, we’re still going to be the Mega Man kings!” Thetis replied.

“The sealed real soul of Model W will regain his ultimate powers after the seal is broken. We will break this seal and take full control of him!” Atlas said.

“No, I don’t think the seal is that weak for you to break!” Vent protested, “I won’t let any of you interrupt this peace Ciel had given us!”

“Soon enough you will understand… We were chosen to be the ones who would break the seal and took control of Weil.” Aeolus said, “We are the Black Mega Men, the ones who will obtain the power of Weil.”

“It looks like the consciousness of the Biometals was sealed again.” Model X said as he and Model Z floated out from Vent’s pocket.

“Vent, we have to stop them before they could break the seal! If Weil came back, it would be nearly impossible to beat him!” Model Z said as Vent nodded.

“If you want to open that seal so badly, then you have to through us first! ROCK ON!” Vent transformed to his ZX form and glared at the four.

“ROCK ON!” Aile, Ashe, and Grey transformed.

“There are four of us and the four of you. Let’s just make this a fair battle…” Aeolus said as he put his sword in front of his chest and a small tornado engulfed his body. “ROCK ON!”

“ROCK ON!” the other three yelled as they all transformed.

“You would be a pretty interesting enemy for me…” Aeolus pointed one of his dual sabers at Vent.

“I don’t care whether it’s a compliment or not, but I won’t let you break the seal!” Vent said sternly.

“I guess a girl like you won’t be such a challenge for me!” Thetis spun his staff and looked at Aile.

“Let’s just see if you’re as tough as your words would say!” Aile replied.

“I’ll just dispose of this weakling!” Atlas looked at Grey, who glared at her angrily.

“You just watch! I’ll show you that I’m stronger than you think I am!” Grey replied angrily and held onto his dual guns tightly.

“Why do I have to fight this weirdo?” Ashe complained.

“TARGET CHOSEN! COMMENCE COMBAT AND DESTRUCTION OF TARGET!”


	13. Wind Power

Vent and Aeolus stood in silence, facing each other. Vent had already had his saber in hand as Aeolus had his dual saber in his hands.

“I see…” Aeolus commented as he let out a sly grin.

_‘Whatever he’s thinking, I don’t think it’s a good thing for me…’_ Vent held his saber tighter.

Vent suddenly charged at Aeolus, but Aeolus easily sidestepped him. Vent stopped dashing and saw that a wide sonic boom was coming at him fast, but he wasn’t quick enough to dodge the attack and took the hit.

Aeolus jumped up and dashed in the air closer to Vent with his sabers ready. Vent put his ZX saber in front of him and blocked the incoming cross shaped slash. Vent pulled out his ZX buster with his left hand and shot Aeolus, knocking him back to the ground.

Aeolus got up and swung the saber in his right hand and summoned two V-shaped cyclones. Vent jumped between the cyclones as it separated and tried slashing him with his saber, but Aeolus blocked it with both if his sabers.

Vent jumped back and fired a few half charged shots at Aeolus, but Aeolus dashed to the side. He drew the end of both of his sabers together and pointing them at Vent. A ball of electricity was formed at the end as he shot it at Vent.

Vent tried shooting it with his buster, but the shots went through the ball of electricity and paralyzed him. Aeolus took the chance to attack and sent a cyclone straight at him. Vent was still paralyzed to move out of the way and took the hit from the cyclone.

Vent’s paralysis was gone as he fell to his knees and panted heavily. From the end of his eyes, he could see that Aeolus had air dashed towards him with his sabers ready in his hands. Vent quickly dashed under him and fired a charged shot at Aeolus’ back. Aeolus was once again knocked to the ground, but he did a roll and landed safely.

Vent used his Rising Fang move at him while he was off guard and followed by a rolling slash. Aeolus grinned as he took the hits, but he wasn’t damaged by them. The wounds he got from before slowly recovered as he got up.

“W-What?” Vent saw Aeolus turned to him with an evil smile.

“I’ve never thought that I would use this to battle against you… You… are worthy!” Aeolus said.

“W-What do you mean?” Vent asked, but suddenly noticed that Aeolus’ eyes were glowing in green color.

“The true power of the Biometal…” Aeolus’ body suddenly glowed in brighter green color as he was lifted to the air. “OVERDRIVE!!!”

Aeolus’s whole body along with his sabers was glowing brightly and he was floating in the air. He lifted both of his sabers to the air and lighting struck down to Vent. Vent yelled out in pain, but he didn’t notice that a black tornado was coming to his way.

Vent took the hits and fell to his knees again as his armor had cracked a bit. He slowly got up with the help from his saber and supported himself with it. He looked up at Aeolus, who was surrounded by big black colored tornados and a black cloud over his head.

_“FOOLS LIKE YOU SHALL PERISH FROM THIS WORLD!”_ Aeolus’ voice was like telepathy as Vent didn’t see him open his mouth to speak.

Aeolus drew the end of his sabers together in front of him and the black cloud over his head sent out multiple balls of electricity. Vent couldn’t dodge most of the balls due to his wounds, but he was paralyzed this time.

_“Vent! This is the special overdrive Ciel told us before!”_ Model Z’s voice echoed in Vent’s mind, _“This power is the original power of model H!”_

“Ugh… I thought so…” Vent whispered weakly as he his left clutched onto his right hand. He stood back carefully and took a look at Aeolus. _‘If he’s surrounded with those tornados, it’s going to be hard for me to approach him… I think my only bet is to attack him with the buster…’_

Vent pulled back his saber and put his buster into his right hand. He aimed it at Aeolus’ head, but the tornado spun and blocked the incoming shot. The tornado spun again to reveal that Aeolus had sent a wide sonic boom filled with electricity at him.

Vent dashed under the sonic boom and quickly shot him with his buster. The shot hit Aeolus’ body, but they bounced back from it. Aeolus lifted his sabers into the air again as more lighting struck down and one of them hit Vent.

His armor was now full of cracks and his blood poured out from them. _‘I have to find a weak point!’_ Vent forced himself to stand up and look up at Aeolus. He noticed the red gem on Aeolus’ helmet. _‘Wait a minute… The tornado didn’t block my shots when I aimed them at the body, but it blocked the shots when I aimed them at the head! Is that gem the weak point?’_

Vent noticed an incoming lighting and quickly dodged to the side. _‘That was close… another strong attack like that could have killed me instantly!’_ Vent aimed her buster at his head, but he didn’t shoot. _‘The opening for him to be attacked is when he was about to attack me!’_

Aeolus put his sabers to his sides as the tornados around him were sent towards Vent. _‘But I didn’t see this coming!’_ Vent was in panic and recklessly dashed into one of the gaps between the tornados, but he was saved. He turned back to Aeolus and saw that he was off guard.

Vent quickly charged his buster and shot at his head. There was an explosion as the shot came in contact with gem. Vent looked closer at the gem and saw that it had cracked. He smiled in satisfaction, but suddenly turned as he noticed that the tornados were coming back to Aeolus.

Vent pulled back his buster as he pulled out his saber. He charged his saber while dashing quickly at Aeolus. He jumped to his level and slammed his saber to the red gem, breaking it. Aeolus’ body suddenly stopped glowing, but he was still floating in the air.

“GRAAAHHH!!!” Aeolus yelled in pain before he transformed back. He fell to the ground unconscious as Model H floated over him and was glowing in bright red color.

“I… did it…” Vent fell to his knees and panted heavily.


	14. Icicle Strength

“Come on, let’s start this battle!” Thetis said as he spun his staff before planting it into the ground. Walls made of ice came from the ground and blocked Thetis and Aile from the other Mega Men. He pulled his staff back from the ground and water came out of the hole created by the staff.

“Okay, but I’m not impressed with your magic tricks with the ice and water!” Aile responded as Thetis chuckled.

“Fine, but you’ll see that my tricks with ice are better than you think!” Thetis swam higher and faced Aile.

Aile pulled out her ZX buster and started shooting at Thetis, but he had swum away and the shots hit the wall behind him instead. Thetis suddenly swam behind her and caught off guard by spinning his staff. Aile was knocked back and was about to counter him with the buster, but she missed the shot again as Thetis swam away.

Thetis swam in front of her again and swung his staff as he summoned a big ice spear. He swam away as the spear headed towards Aile. The water had caused her to slow down her movements and the spear hit Aile’s left shoulder, freezing it.

Aile shot the iceberg formed on her left shoulder and noticed that two ice dragons were sent towards her. She jumped quickly, but the dragons turned and swam up to her. One of them wrapped Aile’s legs and the other one swam towards her upper body.

Aile shot the dragon which was coming towards her neck before she shot the dragon which wrapping her legs. She felt that Thetis had swum behind her and she quickly turned. She fired a charged shot at him, but he spun his staff and the shot bounced back.

Thetis swam upwards again, not noticing that Aile had charged another shot and fired at him. He took the hit and was about to fall, but he had gained his balance back and swam in the water again. He swung his staff as a chunk of spiky ice appeared in front of him. He swung his staff once more and the chunk of ice broke into several pieces of ice spikes which headed towards different directions.

Aile took a closer look at the ice spikes and found an opening. She dashed between the spikes and charged her buster. Thetis swam back down and was about it spin his staff, but took another hit from Aile’s charged shot and landed on the ground.

“I guess I’ve underestimated you as a girl, but I have a secret weapon myself!” Thetis said, “We will become the Mega Man kings and get rid of people who had polluted the sea with their waste!”

“Even if you could beat me and break the seal, there’s no way you could control Weil’s powers easily!” Aile replied as Thetis chuckled.

“I’ll beat you soon enough, but I’ll let you live so you can see that we can fully take control of the enormous power!” Thetis’ eyes started glowing in blue color.

“What are you up to, Thetis?” Aile asked as she saw that Thetis’ body glowed in bright blue color.

“My secret weapon… OVERDRIVE!!!” Thetis sent out an underwater shockwave as chunks of ice came out from the ground and surrounded him. Aile was almost blown away by the shockwave, but she had managed to stay still.

Thetis swam over the chunks of ice as they glowed in bright blue color. Three more pillars of ice came out from the ground behind him and glowed in bright blue color, forming a throne made of ice. He extended his empty hand and three big dragons made of ice came out from the ground.

The two dragons swam on ground on Aile’s left and right side before they planted their heads behind her. The last dragon swam over her and planted its head behind her, in the middle of the other two. The dragons stopped moving as their bodies hardened and widen, trapping Aile inside a prison made of ice.

“W-What is this? Let me out!” Aile pounded on the walls, but they were too hard to crack.

_“I CAN’T FORGIVE YOU PEOPLE FOR POLLUTING THE SEA! I’LL GET RID OF ALL OF YOU FOR THAT!”_ Thetis’ voice was almost like telepathy.

Aile charged her buster and shot at one of the ice walls, but the wall absorbed the shot. _‘This is not good! If I can’t get out of here, I can’t battle him!’_ She felt that it had got colder inside than before. _‘The temperature must be dropping by the second! I have to get out of here!’_

Aile pulled out her saber and began slashing at the walls, but there weren’t any scratches on them. She charged her saber and slammed it on one of the walls as it cracked. She continued slamming her charged saber at the walls, until she managed to get out of the ice prison.

She looked at Thetis and saw that he had pointed his staff at her. Two ice spikes came out from the left and right sides of the ice chunks and were launched towards her. Aile stepped back to avoid the first spike and she shot the other one to change its direction.

She charged her buster and pointed it at Thetis’ head, but a wall of ice came out in front of him and blocked the shot. The shield went back down as Thetis had his staff covered in ice. He swung his staff downward and created a big spiky chunk of ice.

Aile took the chance to fire a charged shot at his head right at the red gem before he could break the ice chunk. The red gem cracked, but Thetis didn’t flinch at all. Aile charged her buster again as Thetis broke the ice chunk with his staff.

Aile dashed quickly to dodge the incoming spikes and fired the charged shot at his head again. The gem cracked and was destroyed as his body and eyes stopped glowing. The ice throne broke as the water was drained back and the big ice walls shielding them from the others cracked.

Thetis reverted back and fell unconscious as Model L floated over him and was glowing in bright red color. Aile was panting heavily, but she didn’t take much damage from the battle. She looked up and saw that Model L was glowing and she gasped.

“W-What’s happening?” Aile asked as she stared at floating Biometal.


	15. Burning Battlefield

“Weaklings like you disgust me! You shouldn’t even have survived from the Game of Destiny!” Atlas stated, “This will be your final battle before your pathetic death!”

Grey gulped and glared angrily at Atlas. “I won’t lose to you! I might not be the best shooter in the Hunter’s Camp, but I know that I can beat you and prevent you from breaking Weil’s seal!”

“Fine then… You’d better prove me wrong or I’ll just burn you until nothing’s left!” Atlas pointed both of her buster guns at Grey and shot out a couple of fireballs at him.

Grey dodged to the side and charged his gun. He shot at her, but Atlas had dodged it easily. She slammed both of her buster guns on the ground and rocks started falling on Grey. Grey dashed out of the way, but one of them managed to hit him on his right arm.

Grey held his right arm, but suddenly noticed that Atlas was already close to him. He quickly dashed away to dodge as Atlas slammed her buster guns on the ground again, but this time a ground wave was created instead.

Grey was knocked out by the ground wave, but he managed to stand up again. He charged his gun and shot out a charged shot at Atlas, but she had already shot out a time bomb from her left buster gun. The bomb and the charged shot collided in the air and created a small explosion.

After the smoke had cleared up, Grey could see that Atlas had slammed her right buster gun on the ground as a wave of fire was sent towards him. He dodged to the side, but he was hit by another fire wave and was knocked back.

Atlas charged both of her buster guns and shot out another couple of fireballs at Grey, but he quickly got up and dashed under them. He aimed his Homing Shot gun at her and fired it, followed by a half charged shot.

Atlas was caught off guard and took both of the hits, but she wasn’t damaged too badly. She fired two time bombs at Grey to counter, but they were shot in mid air by Grey’s Homing Shot. Atlas grinned slyly and dashed through the smoke created by the time bombs earlier.

The smoke cleared up and Atlas had her left buster gun ready. She punched Grey straight on the face with the buster gun, knocking him back hard on the ground. He got up slowly and saw that Atlas had charged at him again with her right buster gun ready this time.

He ducked as Atlas punched the air above him and shot out a half charged shot at her. Atlas was knocked back a little and had her guard down as Grey had shot her again with a fully charged shot. Atlas got up slowly and smiled slyly.

“I admit that you’ve got stronger than the last time, but I won’t admit you as my equal!” Atlas looked at him with her orange glowing eyes, “My real power isn’t just like what you had seen before!”

“N-No! Are you using the special overdrive?” Grey asked curiously as he saw Atlas’ body glowed in bright orange color.

“Face my ultimate power… OVERDRIVE!!!” the ground around Atlas exploded and burning fire surrounded her.

_“I AM ATLAS, THE QUEEN OF FIRE! IN MY RULE THE STRONG WILL SURVIVE, BUT THE WEAK WILL BE ELIMINATED FROM THIS WORLD!”_ Atlas’ voice was like telepathy as she didn’t open her mouth to speak. The fire started spreading around the battlefield as Grey fell to his knees.

_‘The temperature is rising! My systems are starting to overheat and I can’t move my body properly!’_ Grey thought as he held onto his guns tightly, _‘I have to finish this battle fast somehow!’_

Grey aimed his gun at Atlas and fired a charged shot at her, but she disappeared in a crisp of flame. She appeared behind Grey and punched him with her flame covered buster guns, sending him flying a few feet behind. Grey slowly got up and saw a few fireballs fired at him.

His systems weren’t functioning properly because of the high temperature and his body couldn’t be moved as much as he wanted to. He fell to the ground and let the fireballs pass above him. He forced himself to get up and he was panting heavily.

He pointed one of his guns at Atlas once more, but his hand was shaking. He shot out another charged shot at her, but the fire surrounding her had become a hard shield for her. She pointed one of her buster guns at him as a dragon made of fire was formed.

Grey took a glance at the dragon before he fell to his knees again. He could feel that the temperature inside his body was increasing by itself. The fire dragon flew towards him, but Grey couldn’t move to dodge at all.

_‘Come on… Move, MOVE!!!’_ Grey stood back slowly and moved aside, but he was still hit on his left shoulder. Grey held back the pain and put his guns to his sides before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes back moments later and held his guns tighter before he jumped as high as he could. “GIGA CRUSH!!!”

Grey let out rapid fire shots from his guns, and some of the shots hit the red gem on Atlas’ head. The gem was destroyed as the fire on the field disappeared and the temperature slowly dropped to normal.

“NOOO!!!” Atlas’ eyes and body stopped glowing as she transformed back before she fell to the ground. “My… powers… they’re gone…” Atlas finally said before fell unconscious. Model F floated over her unconscious body and it was glowing in bright red color.

Grey fell back to his knees and was sweating because of the unbearable heat Atlas had caused with her fire. He panted heavily and looked up to see the unconscious Atlas and Model F floating over her.

“W-What… now…?” Grey asked himself weakly.


	16. Mysterious Shadows

“COMMENCE THE DESTRUCTION OF TARGET!” Siarnaq started.

“Yeah, yeah… Fine, I get it already!” Ashe replied with an annoyed tone, but didn’t notice a figure behind her. As soon as she turned around, she saw another Siarnaq and he threw a few kunai at her.

Ashe was unable to dodge and took the hit as the Siarnaq who threw the kunai disappeared from her sight. Ashe turned back and looked around but Siarnaq was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, Siarnaq appeared behind her along with four clones of him.

Ashe pointed one of her guns at the middle one and shot him, but he disappeared. The remaining four disappeared from her sight and one of them appeared above her. She looked up as he threw a big shuriken at her before he disappeared again.

Ashe dashed to the side to avoid the shuriken, but it bounced off the ground and headed towards the wall behind her. Siarnaq appeared on the wall and caught the shuriken with his bare hands before he disappeared again.

Siarnaq reappeared in front of Ashe and threw the shuriken straight at her before he disappeared again. Ashe took the hit from the shuriken as it cut through her armor on her upper chest. She charged her gun as she got ready when Siarnaq reappeared.

As she thought before, Siarnaq reappeared again in front of her but with his four clones. Ashe shot the second one from the right with her charged laser, but it was only a clone. The remaining ones suddenly threw kunai at her at the same time, but she easily dodged the attack.

Siarnaq’s clones disappeared, leaving the real one on the leftmost side with something in his hand. He swung his hand as a few layers of small purple colored shuriken spun around him. Ashe shot a few half charged lasers at him while he was standing still, but they were blocked by the shuriken.

Siarnaq extended his arm at Ashe as the shuriken around him spun wider than before and hit Ashe, knocking her back. She quickly charged her laser gun and shot at Siarnaq before he disappeared. Siarnaq took the hit, but he didn’t flinch and disappeared again.

Ashe charged her gun as she looked around and waited for Siarnaq to appear. He reappeared on the wall as Ashe quickly turned and shot him. The shot hit him again and made him lose his grip on the wall. Ashe quickly gave him another shot with her charged laser before he disappeared again. He reappeared a few feet in front of Ashe and was holding his chest in pain.

“Had enough yet?” Ashe teased as Siarnaq put his hand back to his side again.

“YOU WILL NEVER WIN FROM A SHADOW!” Siarnaq’s eyes glowed brighter in purple color, “ACTIVATING THE OVERDRIVE MODE!” Siarnaq’s body glowed in purple color as his whole body was engulfed with a black colored aura.

_“Ashe, this is not good! What should we do now?”_ Model A’s voice echoed inside Ashe’s mind.

“We don’t have any other choice but to beat him in combat!” Ashe replied.

_“TRAITORS HAVE NO HONOR… PEOPLE WIHTOUT HONOR HAVE NO PLACE IN THIS WORLD!”_ Siarnaq still had his robotic like voice, but the sound was similar to telepathy.

“So you’re just going to kill them all? A killer doesn’t have any honor too!” Ashe replied angrily.

Siarnaq threw a black colored big shuriken at her, but she had managed to dodge it by jumping over it. As soon as she landed, Siarnaq had disappeared along with his black aura. Siarnaq reappeared on the wall and clung to it as he showered Ashe with kunai from the wall.

There were too many kunai for Ashe to dodge as they were also aimed at different angles, making them harder to dodge. She charged her gun while dodging the kunai, but Siarnaq had disappeared before she could even shoot.

Siarnaq reappeared in front of Ashe and drew his hands together. The black aura around him got bigger and it covered the whole room with darkness. Ashe shot her charged laser at Siarnaq and hit him before he disappeared.

A kunai suddenly hit her from behind, but she didn’t see anyone behind her when she turned around. She felt a slash on her legs, but they were fine when she looked at them. Two shuriken suddenly came to her from the left and right side, but she quickly ducked down as both of them passed over her head.

_“What is this place anyway? Where would Siarnaq be hiding?”_ Model A’s voice echoed in Ashe’s mind.

“I don’t know, but I think Siarnaq is hiding somewhere in this dark room.” Ashe replied, not noticing a thin sword floating over her head.

As the sword floated closer, Ashe noticed its presence and dashed out of the way. The sword stabbed the ground Ashe used to be before it disappeared. Another sword suddenly appeared in front of her and flew towards her, but she ducked out of the way.

She looked around as she got ready for another incoming attack, until she felt something sharp on her feet. She looked down to her feet and saw that a sword had pierced through her feet, but it suddenly disappeared and left no wound on her stabbed feet.

_‘That’s strange… The wound hurts, but I don’t see blood on my wounds!’_ Ashe thought as an idea struck her, _‘If this is Siarnaq’s illusion, then I might have to shoot my way out of here!’_

Ashe began shooting around the dark room as she walked in circles, but nothing happened except that the attacks had stopped coming to her. _‘The attacks had stopped since I started shooting in this room, but I can’t still get out of here…’_

Ashe looked around the empty dark room, but she saw nothing at all. _‘I guess I have to shoot more than just on the ground and find the weak point of this stupid illusion!’_ Ashe put her guns to her sides before she jumped and let out rapid fire shots. “GIGA CRUSH!!!”

The shots went everywhere in the room, but suddenly she heard something broke. The room brightened up and she saw that she was still in her exact place before she was caught in the illusion. She looked to the front and saw that Siarnaq was in the mid air, but his body had stopped glowing.

Siarnaq transformed back before he fell down a few feet in front of Ashe, unconscious. Model P suddenly floated over him and glowed in bright red color.

“It looks like this isn’t over yet…” Ashe commented.


	17. The Unlocked Power

The four Biometals floated over their Chosen Ones and were glowing in bright red color. Model H shot out a green colored light at the plate, making it glow in green color. Model L shot out a light blue colored light at the plate and made the plate glow in light blue color.

Model F shot out an orange colored light at the plate and made it glow in orange color. Model P shot out a purple colored light at the plate and made it glow in purple color, before the plate glowed in white color. The whole room shook violently as cracks formed on the plate before it broke and disappeared, leaving only a red colored light floating in the same place as the plate.

The four Biometals fell beside their unconscious Chosen Ones and stopped glowing. The red light changed color into white color as the size of it grew bigger.

“What’s happening?” Ashe asked as she turned to the remaining three Chosen Ones.

“I think… the seal has been broken…” Vent said weakly as Aile approached him.

“Vent, are you okay? Your wounds are the worst of us all!” Aile asked worriedly as Vent tried getting up.

“I’ll be fine… hopefully…” Vent and the others watched as the white light was now getting bigger and bigger.

The white light shook violently along with the room. A giant horn suddenly came out of the light along with a smaller folded one below it. Thick tentacle like cables came out from behind the light as the whole body got bigger, almost the same size as the room.

The light died down and revealed the body inside the light. The cables were black colored, but some of them near the front were shaped like an arrow with red and dark blue color. The horns were white colored, but the top one had red spots on it. The lower horn opened up and the four saw the mad scientist’s head inside an orange colored orb.

“Weil!” the four yelled in unison as Weil laughed evilly.

_“Thanks to those naïve Chosen Ones, I have gained my full power back! I have their overdrive powers, which made me the most powerful human in the world!”_ Weil said, followed by another evil laugh.

“I won’t let you get away with this!” Vent tried charging at Weil, but his wounds had stopped him from moving too much.

“No, Vent! We will take care of Weil! Your wounds are way worse than you think!” Aile said as she forced him to sit down.

_“I am invincible! With power of Ragnarok and the four guardians of Neo Arcadia contained within the Biometals, no one can stop me!”_ Weil said before the lower horn covered his head back.

Aile shot him with the ZX buster, but the shot bounced of the lower horn. Grey and Ashe aimed their Homing Shot guns at Weil, but their shot bounced back from the horn. The lower horn suddenly glowed brightly as some spikes came out from the horn.

The spiked horn stopped glowing and revealed that it had been turned into ice. The spiked ice horn opened up and was launched towards the three. They quickly jumped out of the way, but the horn went back to them and Weil, hitting the three of them in process.

The horn went back to its place before it glowed and turned back to normal. The lower horn covered Weil’s head back before the end of the top horn glowed along with the red spots. The red spots on the horn shot out electricity at them fast, making them unable to dodge the attacks.

Weil followed the attack with flame towers all over the field. Aile managed to dodge the flame towers, but Ashe and Grey weren’t fast enough to dodge most of them. The lower opened up again, but to reveal some flying kunai in front of Weil’s head.

The kunai were sent at them, but they had dodged them by jumping away. More kunai were summoned in front of Weil as he sent them at the three Chosen Ones. They took some of the hits as they came back down, but Weil had summoned and launched a red colored missile at them without being noticed.

Vent suddenly jumped from behind the Chosen Ones and slashed the missile, exploding it in mid air. Vent was sent back flying because of the shockwave caused by the explosion, but managed to land safely on the ground.

He took out his ZX buster as he took the chance to shot at the orange orb. Weil took the hit before he covered his head back with his horn. The three turned around to see Vent still pointing his buster at Weil’s head while panting.

“His weakness… is the head… inside that orb…” Vent said between his pantings.

“How did you know?” Aile asked.

“I’ve been watching the battle…” Vent replied before he fell to his knees. Aile saw him and quickly ran over to him.

“Vent, you’re pushing yourself too hard!” Aile said worriedly.

“I know… But I just can’t sit back here and watch as my friends and fiancé got hurt!” Vent replied with a weak smile.

_“It is too bad that you all have to vanish from this world after what you’ve done for it…”_ The four turned to Weil as the orange orb glowed. _“Say goodbye to your precious world and life! Light Laser!”_

The orange orb glowed brighter as it had stopped charging and was about to release the laser, but a figure came in with lighting speed and slashed the orb with a scythe. The orange orb stopped glowing as a potion bottle shaped ice was sent flying towards the orange orb.

The fast figure with scythe jumped back and landed in front of the remaining four Chosen Ones to reveal himself as Prometheus. Pandora soon appeared and floated above him.

“Prometheus! Pandora! What are you two doing in here?” Vent asked, but Prometheus and Pandora ignored him.

“So you’re the real soul of Model W…” Prometheus stated coldly, “I didn’t expect to see you so soon, but the sooner we finish this, the better!”

_“Oh, it’s you two… The Reploid siblings, Prometheus and Pandora…”_ Weil replied.

“Weil… We’ll be taking our old bodies back…” Pandora said.

“Your power might have helped us to survive, but you have prevented us from going back to our Reploid forms!” Prometheus added, “We will destroy you to get our old Reploid bodies back from your grasp!”

Weil chuckled after hearing what Prometheus had said. _“Do you have what it takes to destroy the most powerful human in this world?”_

“Just you wait and see, Weil!” Prometheus said angrily, “You can never win!”


	18. Fate

_“Let’s just see if you’re capable of handling my full power to get your bodies back!”_ Weil’s orange orb glowed for a second before electricity came out of it and struck Prometheus and Pandora. The Reploid siblings yelled out in pain before the electricity disappeared, leaving them paralyzed on the ground.

“Prometheus! Pandora! Are you guys okay?” Ashe asked as she saw Prometheus forced himself to stand up.

“This is none of your business! This battle is between us and Weil, so don’t even think about interfering!” Prometheus replied coldly. Pandora soon got up again and stood beside Prometheus.

_“You Reploids are really stubborn! You can never beat me now, so why don’t we just merge our powers together?”_ Weil asked with a sly grin.

“What do you mean, Weil?” Prometheus asked before he noticed that his body and Pandora’s had glowed, “W-What’s happening?”

_“We are one and you were made from my powers! Once you two merged with me, soon I’ll have my full power and become the ultimate human in this world!”_ Weil’s orb glowed as the glowing Prometheus and Pandora were absorbed into the orb.

The four remaining Mega Men watched as Prometheus and Pandora disappeared as soon as their bodies touched Weil’s glowing orb. The orb stopped glowing soon after and the ground started shaking violently.

_‘This is not good… We’re already injured from the battles, so what should we do now?’_ Vent thought.

_“Vent! Use the special overdrive!”_ Model Z’s voice echoed in Vent’s mind.

_“This is our only shot! We have to take down Weil!”_ Model X’s voice echoed in Vent’s mind as Vent let out a weak smile.

_‘Alright, it looks like it’s up to me…’_ Vent curled up his right fist as his body glowed and his wounds started healing. Aile and the Hunters noticed him glowing and turned around.

“V-Vent! What happened to you?” Aile asked worriedly as Vent looked up at her.

_“I’ll take it from here, because this is our only hope to defeat Weil!”_ Vent’s voice was different, it was as if it was mixed up with someone else’s voice.

“Vent… Okay, but please don’t push yourself too hard… I still need you by my side…” Aile smiled sadly as Vent nodded.

_“I promise… I’ll stay alive!”_ Vent replied with determination in his voice. He stepped in front of Weil and pulled out his saber, which was bigger than usual and was also glowing.

A green glowing line suddenly appeared and circled around Weil and Vent. The sky became darker as the room kept on shaking violently. The platform where Vent and Weil were on broke from the main platform as it fell down.

Vent held down to the platform as it kept falling down. He looked around and saw that he and Weil were actually surrounded by lava and rocks. The platform had slowed down a bit and Vent stood up again.

_“You may think that by defeating me with that overdrive power will bring peace to the world, but you’re going to make yourself a Maverick to kill a human being like me!”_ Weil stated.

_“I don’t care about being a Maverick. I won’t hesitate… if an enemy appears in front of me, I’ll destroy it!”_ Vent swung his saber and pointed it at Weil’s head.

_“Y-You…”_ Weil closed his eyes and smiled evilly, _‘This is just like what happened those centuries ago…’_ Weil opened his eyes back, _“The same thing in the past… can never happen again!”_

Weil opened up his lower horn and summoned a few floating ice spikes in front of the orb. He sent the ice spikes at Vent, but he dodged to the side and sent a sonic boom attack at his head. The attack came in contact with orb and created a small explosion.

After the smoke had disappeared, Weil shot out a purple colored light above Vent. A fake image of Omega came down from it as Vent dashed out of the way. Omega swung his pink saber at Vent, but he blocked the saber with his own before he shot Omega on the chest with his ZX buster.

The fake Omega disappeared, but a fake image of Aeolus came down and drew his sabers together as a ball of electricity was formed at the end of the sabers. Vent used his Rising Fang attack to dodge the attack while striking Aeolus and Weil. The fake image of Aeolus disappeared as Vent landed back on the platform.

Vent quickly charged his buster at Weil before a fake image of Thetis came down. Thetis swung his staff as three ice dragons were sent at Vent. Vent swung his saber to destroy the first two dragons and charged his ZX buster. He fired the charged shot through the last dragon, Thetis, and Weil.

The image disappeared as an image of Atlas and Siarnaq came down in the same time. Atlas slammed her buster guns on the ground and sent two waves of fire followed by Siarnaq’s shuriken attack and a few kunai flying towards him.

Vent used his Rising Fang to get through the attack and hit Atlas’ fake image and used his rolling slash as he fell down to hit Siarnaq’s fake image. As the fake images disappeared, Vent dashed quickly and slashed Weil’s orb repeatedly.

The lower horn closed up as the upper horn sent out a few blasts of electricity at Vent. He dashed away from the attacks quickly as the lower horn opened up again. Weil sent out a burning red laser at Vent, but he had successfully dodged the attack.

Weil had paused for a while as Vent took the chance to attack him head on. He jumped to the orb’s level and used his rolling slash to slash the orb repeatedly until it broke, revealing Weil’s head. The saber came in contact with Weil’s head as it created an explosion.

_“No… This can’t be… NOOO!!!”_ Weil’s body exploded as Vent was sent upwards due to the explosion.

The impact of the explosion had caused the upper platform where Aile, Ashe, and Grey were covered in smoke. After the smoke had cleared up, the room stopped shaking violently. Aile saw Vent’s body lying beside the hole and ran over to him.

“Vent!” Aile transformed back to human form before she bent down and put Vent’s head on her lap. Vent transformed back to human form as he had already at his limit. Aile noticed that he was still breathing and smiled before she hugged him.

“Hey, how’s Vent doing?” Ashe asked as Aile turned to her.

“He’s fine, but he must be exhausted after those battles…” Aile took another look at Vent before she turned back to Ashe, “Come on, let’s go back to base.”

“Hey, what about these four?” Grey asked from the distance as he was standing near the unconscious Chosen Ones.

“Let’s just take all of the back to the base. They needed some treatment and some proper rest too.” Aile reached her communicator, “Prairie, could you transfer us back? We’ve got a few injured.”

“Okay, hold on…” Prairie replied from the other side.

A few seconds later, the eight Chosen Ones glowed before they disappeared from the room.


	19. Preparations

A week had passed since the final battle between Vent and Weil. Weil had actually gone for good, but Vent had survived. But the huge surprise was after the four unconscious Mega Men woke up with no memories since the time when they took their Biometals from Albert. They acted nothing like their former selves when they had the Biometals.

It was in the middle of the day and the blue haired Chosen One was wandering around the base in panic without his shoes on and saw that Aeolus was leaning against the wall nearby.

“Hey Aeolus, have you seen my shoes?” Thetis approached and asked the green haired Chosen One as he saw that Thetis was walking barefooted.

“My bet is that this is Atlas’ doing. Go and try looking for them someplace with a trap.” Aeolus casually replied.

“Aeolus! Don’t tell me that you actually know where my shoes are!” Thetis responded angrily, not noticing the flying object heading towards his head.

“OW!” Thetis was knocked out to the ground by the flying object, which were actually his shoes. Aeolus ignored him and looked at the direction where the shoes came from to find the angry brown and orange haired Chosen One.

“Aeolus! I thought that I’ve told you to tell him that this is your idea!” Atlas stomped angrily towards the two boys.

“Technically, he wouldn’t believe that I was the one who did that,” Aeolus suddenly noticed something, “Have you seen Siarnaq anywhere? We should tell the Guardians about the important news soon.”

“Don’t even think about changing the topic here, pretty boy!” Atlas glared angrily at Aeolus, but he didn’t feel as frightened as Thetis although he wasn’t really involved.

“Vent, Aeolus, Atlas, Thetis, and Siarnaq please come to Fleuve’s lab immediately.” The voice from the intercom said.

“Okay, let’s go!” Thetis nervously said before he left quickly, carrying his shoes with him to the lab. Atlas glared angrily at Aeolus before she left silently with Aeolus following her to the lab.

The two Chosen Ones entered the lab to see that the others had already been there. Thetis had already put on his shoes and Siarnaq was leaning against the wall near the computer, while Vent was looking at Model Z curiously.

“Okay, I need to borrow all of your Biometals to be analyzed for a moment.” Fleuve said as he turned to the Chosen Ones in the room.

The Chosen Ones obeyed and put their Biometals on top of Fleuve’s computer. He typed a few things on the keyboard as the computer beeped continuously. The images of the Biometals popped out in the monitor along with a list of data scrolling in the monitor.

Fleuve stopped typing to look at the Biometal data in the monitor. He then continued typing and stopped as images stopped popping out in the monitor before turning back to the Chosen Ones.

“It seems like it’s just like what Vent had told me earlier. Because of the overdrive system you used before, the Biometals had lost their souls and became ‘dead’ Biometals. Even so, you can still use them in battle but you don’t have the overdrive system anymore. You can take the Biometals back now.” Fleuve finished his explanation as the Chosen Ones took back their Biometals.

“But what about the memory lost? Have you found anything about that?” Vent asked as he pocketed Model X and Model Z.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything about the memory lost. It is very possible that Albert might have caused them to end up like this.” Fleuve replied with disappointment in his voice.

“Okay then, I’m going out for the time being.” Vent said as he walked towards the door, but Fleuve stopped him.

“Are going to hang out with Aile?” Fleuve asked as Vent shook his head.

“No, she’s hanging out with Ashe to get her wedding dress. I saw her so energetic this morning after Aile had picked her to be her maid of honor. I’m going with Grey to get something to eat in the city, because I think we can get the tuxedos a bit later.” Vent replied as Fleuve nodded.

“Okay, but don’t forget to tell her to see me if you meet her!” Fleuve reminded before Vent left the lab. Fleuve turned away from the door and back at the four remaining Chosen Ones. “What are the four of you going to do now?”

“At first we weren’t really sure, but we’ve come to a decision.” Thetis started.

“We will help you in your duties and join the Guardians.” Aeolus added as Fleuve smiled.

“If that’s your final decision, then that’s good. Please come with me to the Control Room.” Fleuve said as he led the four Chosen Ones to the Control Room. The five of them entered the Control Room and were greeted by Prairie.

“Hello, the four of you. I see that you’ve recovered, so you may decide where you should go now.” Prairie stated as Fleuve stepped forward.

“Prairie, the four Chosen Ones have decided to join us!” Fleuve said as Prairie stood up from her seat.

“Y-You will?” Prairie asked as the four Chosen Ones nodded, “Thank you…” Prairie paused for a while before she sat back down on her seat. “But I’ll give you a special trial before you can officially join the Guardians.”

“Trial? What trial?” Atlas asked.

“Vent and Aile’s wedding is next week, so I’ll leave you in charge of the decorations. The ceremony will be held on the deck.” Prairie told the Chosen Ones as Atlas turned around to the three Chosen Ones.

“Siarnaq, what do you want to take care of?” Atlas asked.

“Tables.” Siarnaq replied shortly.

“Okay… do you want to help with the tablecloth too?” Atlas asked again.

“No.” Siarnaq let out another short reply before he left the Control Room silently.

“It looks like Siarnaq is still as silent as usual!” Thetis commented.

“Come on, let’s discuss the decors somewhere else!” Atlas as she dragged the two remaining Chosen Ones out of the room.


	20. The Special Day

A week had passed since the four Mega Men joined the Guardians. The deck of the Guardian Base was filled with decorations and flowers. There were also tables and chairs being set up by the four before they covered the tables with white colored tablecloths.

A red carpet divided the deck into two sides and one end of the carpet which was near the elevator inside was folded to fit in the deck. At the other end of the carpet, an altar was placed. On the left side of the altar, there was also an organ. The food prepared for the invited guests was lined up on long tables covered with white tablecloths, one at each side of the deck.

The blonde haired commander came to deck and saw that the four Chosen Ones were still busy setting up the tables and chairs. Prairie smiled as she was impressed by their work on the flowers and the other wedding decorations. Thetis, who had just finished covering a table with a tablecloth, noticed her and smiled.

“We’re almost done with decors! How is the happy couple doing?” Thetis asked with a cheerful smile.

“I’ve checked on Vent moments ago and he is fine, but it seems that Aile is very nervous about the wedding,” Prairie answered as the other three Chosen Ones walked over to her.

“We’re finished, Commander! So how do we do with the entire wedding decorations?” Atlas asked.

“It’s excellent! The four of you have passed the trial and have officially become Guardians!” Prairie replied with a smile.

“That’s great! I can’t wait to do some work with the other Guardians!” Thetis commented cheerfully.

“Okay, the wedding will start in a few hours from now on so you still have some time to get ready,” Prairie said.

“Understood,” Siarnaq said shortly before the four of the left the deck, leaving Prairie alone.

The blonde haired commander walked slowly towards the edge of the deck and looked up at the blue sky. She smiled sadly and closed her eyes.

_‘Giro… I hope you’re still here to see this… Your sacrifice for Vent and Aile wasn’t wasted after all…’_ Prairie sadly thought before she left back to her room.

A few hours later, the guests had come to the deck. Some of them were Hunters and Guardians, but some of the townspeople were also invited to the ceremony. The remaining two of Sage Trinity were also invited to the wedding.

Meanwhile in Vent’s room, Vent was getting ready along with Grey. Some of Aile’s stuff was also in his room as she would move to his room after the wedding. Grey noticed that Vent was so calm since that morning.

“Hey, you’re not nervously at all?” Grey asked with confusion.

“Nope, not at all! In fact, I feel excited!” Vent replied with a smile as Grey nodded slowly.

“Okay… By the way, I heard from Ashe that Aile was so nervous that she couldn’t stop talking to her!” Grey said.

“Wow, really? I know that Aile isn’t such a quiet person, but I have never heard about her talking non-stop like Ashe!” Vent commented as Grey patted his back.

“Well… she’s worse than Ashe now, brother…” Grey replied.

Meanwhile in Aile’s room, Aile was pacing back and forth while talking. Ashe was sitting on her bed while staring at the nervous brown haired bride.

“I know that I’m deeply in love with Vent, but I didn’t know that it was going to lead into this! Well… it’s not like that I don’t want to have a family with him, but I thought that we were only going to be just best friends and nothing else…” Aile continued speaking, not noticing that Ashe had covered her ears.

_‘She’s way worse than me…’_ Ashe thought as she had got bored with Aile’s babbling.

A few minutes later, the couple along with Ashe and Grey was called to the deck to start the wedding ceremony. Vent and Grey went to the deck first and walked to the altar.

Vent wore a white shirt under a black groom’s jacket. Small white plastic flowers were put inside the pocket of the jacket and some of the popped out of the pocket. He wore long black pants along with a pair of black shoes.

Grey wore the similar clothes as Vent, but without the flowers on the jacket’s pocket. The red cables on his back were sticking out of his jacket as he decided not to hide them.

Vent stopped at the altar and Grey stood behind him. They saw that Thomas of Sage Trinity was the priest and Mikhail was the organist for the wedding. Mikhail started playing the organ as the bride stepped into the deck. Vent turned to the entrance to deck and blushed at the sight of Aile.

Aile had her hair untied and let it got blown softly by the wind in the night. She wore red colored lipstick and white wedding dress along with a pair of white high-heeled shoes. She was also carrying a bouquet of pink and yellow flower in her hands.

Ashe walked behind Aile as they both walked towards the altar. Ashe wore a long sleeveless light silver dress with a pair of white high-heeled shoes. A red ribbon tied her silver hair up into a ponytail.

Aile walked over beside Vent and held his hand while she had her flowers given to Ashe for a while. Vent suddenly felt nervous after he had seen Aile in her wedding dress.

“Aile… Y-You look beautiful…” Vent whispered as Aile blushed.

“Thanks… You look handsome too…” Aile whispered back.

Thomas started the ceremony and the couple said their vows to each other.

“Now I pronounced you husband and wife,” Thomas finally said as the newly married couple kissed.

After the couple broke the kiss, they turned around and saw that the other guests were clapping for them. Aile shed a happy tear as Vent wrapped an arm around her. From that day, they were husband and wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last batch update coming in a few minutes, no worries!


End file.
